Becoming a Runner Again

In October 2008, I completed the Nike Women's Half-Marathon in San Francisco. It was the climax of my life as a beginning runner. Sure, I was slow, but I did it and loved every moment of becoming part of the running community. No feeling can describe meeting such a goal and I was certain that I had become a life-long runner.

Except I hadn't.

I don't know what happened after that race but I gave up running. It was if my brain couldn't compute that I had actually become a runner -- something I had wanted my entire life. I lost all my hard-earned fitness and gained nearly 100 pounds. It's been horrible. I would give anything to go back to the finish line of that half-marathon and tell myself to keep on running. But I can't.

So, I'm back at the starting line. Re-learning how to run. Working hard on building endurance. And as a motivation, I've signed up for another half-marathon this spring... because I want to be a runner again.