Running, racing and taking it easy...trust me.

          This week for the first week in a long time I hit over 40 miles. I was very proud of myself but I felt people didn't trust me to be able to handle this. I wonder if I have shown people I am not able to control my mileage greed? Or do they just love me and want me to be able to run for a long, long time. I do know that I have shown compulsiveness in the past with my running and have really gone in with both feet AND hands but also I want to show people that now I have learned something as we all do and that is to be a better listener to body signals. I will not push through actual pain and think I am invincible. But I WILL continue to challenge my body bit by bit because only through occasional overload will my body improve and get stronger. And I WILL continue to expect great things of my body. It has come so far and I know it has farther still to go to get better. I will not quit just because i am tired. I will not quit just because I would rather be doing something else right then. I will not quit because I am over 40. I will not quit for anything unless it involves pain...pain in my knees, pain in my feet, pain anywhere. And even then I will not stop for good just stop until the problem is handled to where I can start again pain-free.
   I am also so thankful that there ARE people out there who care enough to question me now and then and to care at all about me and my health and well-being. I am very lucky to have that. I guess my big thing is to prove that I can be as good about caring for my body as I am at pushing it past it's limitations.

 This was me back in 2008. I do not show these pictures easily but I want to make a point that you can do anything you set your mind to. ANYTHING.
   I wanted a new life and I worked to have a new life. Now I want to bring you all into my inner circle and show you how things WERE and how things ARE.




I am  a runner now. I never thought I could do much more than walk but here I am running...long races...and doing what I want to with my life and it is a gift. Believe me!

 Here was my first 5K on 9/10/11. I loved it. I ran it in 26 minutes and it was hard and I was hooked!
The picture on the right was my second race the YMCA 10K. Hard! Loved it!

 More races to follow. Smiths Sport and Show 3 mile footrace, first half marathon out at Eagle Creek at night. DINO races through the woods.
Winning 3rd female overall at the DINO series alongside Christy who won her Age Group award..and should have gotten a singlet too in my opinion!

Monumental Half Marathon

      DINO at Mounds







I met a lot of great friends. I got to see some of the trails I would have never seen had I not taken up trail running. I got to feel the joy of the  finish line! Learn the rules of the race. Learn what I could push with myself and what I had to hold back. Which was I didn't want to hold back anything! I had found what made me happy and didn't want to slow down for fear of losing it.


Some pictures from Tecumseh Marathon and Knobstone Half,
McCormick's Creek DINO race, my running group at the start of a DINO race.

 More fun with friends. Town Run Trail DINO, Mounds DINO, second time running the Planet Adventure Night Trail Half Marathon.

My friend Mel and I at the Tecumseh marathon training run.

 It is good to be able to run again after having the knee problems and I know they are not fixed for good. I know I have to be careful of them and everything with my body. Pushing it is good, pushing it is what got me here but the next lesson is letting the recovery mean as much, if not more, as the workout. Give my muscles that time to repair, grow and change. Make sure I do what I have to do to keep running until I am very old, gray and more senile than I am now.