Nashville or Bust

A Lot Can Happen in… Nine Months

Yesterday, in the dark of the morning, I had a strange realization hit me. More like slowly melt into my brain and make me think, “wha…..?!”

Nine months ago yesterday, while on a morning walk (which at the time was a hard thing to do) I started to “run.” It was a shuffle, but I managed to not quit :45 seconds in when I thought I would hurl and actually run. My tally that morning was TWO MILES (at a pace I won’t mention) and I was proud. So proud in fact, I came home and wrote this post.

It was on that morning that I decided to run a 5k… just two weeks away. I worked hard to do that and had a lot of encouragement. I vividly remember hanging at the starting line, feeling like a complete fish out of water. I was with my friend, Diane, a real runner, and tried to be “normal.” (I know — me & normal don’t go together.) She was pumped up so I decided, “I’ll just run with her.” I almost couldn’t finish the race because her pace was, well, you know, fast, and it sent my body into the wrong gear. And for a girl with only one gear, that was bad. But I figured out what to do and finished the race. I felt pretty darned good. That was July 4. I still have that racing bib on my bedside table.

Running the Firecracker 5k, July 4, 2012

A few weeks after the 5k, I decided to sign up for the Hudy 7k in September. That race was a whole 4.something miles and I was terrified. That was far. And I needed to run. (No walking was my rule!) So I started to train. Not sure I knew what I was doing but I worked very hard to increase my mileage so I could run a whole 4 miles without looking like a clod. I remember sending Dave a text the first time I actually trained the whole distance. I was so giddy.  Race day came — and Dave hit the course with me, too. We finished that darned 7k. And, while I was not super fast, I did have an improvement with my pace and I felt proud. Damnit, I worked hard for that 4.whatever miles.

Yesterday, I got up and started my day with a 7k like it was nothing. March 19. Nine months to the day I first shuffled through Fort Thomas in the pre-dawn saying to myself, “no way, I’m running.” I realized you really can learn to do — and love new things. You can do anything if you put your heart and soul into it. You can change your life and love yourself more.

Along with Diane, and other dear friends: Amanda, Andi and Lisa… with the supportive cheering from Danielle… we are in training for the half-marathon in May. We are the Step Sisters Half-Pig Squad. And we are feeling pretty good about what we are doing. We run 3x a week together and laugh a lot. These ladies (along with Dave’s support) get me up in the morning and running in the cold. We’ve expanded our mileage, improved our pace and layered in new threads of friendship that are laced up pretty tight… like our shoes. Did I see this nine months ago? Nope. I also didn’t see other things nine months prior, but that’s a different story. ~Jacqui

March 20, 2013 - Posted by daveandjacqui | Uncategorized