'It's the Eye of the Tiger"

I thought I would share the story of my running life. In high school, I hated it.  We would have cardio tests where we would have to run a mile and be timed.  Yeah, I was happy to get a slow time and just walk it. Sometimes, I would run when I felt my teacher was really watching me, but usually it was a run. There was one random time where I ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill, that was a weird time.

Then a few years ago, I was in a life changing mood.  Making all sorts of goals and I randomly decided to add run a half marathon as part of my goals. Not sure why, I don't think I really had the intentions of doing it but it felt kind of cool to say that I was going to run a half marathon. In my excitement to be making these goals, I informed my dad about the half marathon. He got so excited and told me he was going to do it with me. "Oh Shoot" went through my head, I was actually going to have to do a half marathon! We signed up and soon I found myself running farther than I ever imagined I would run. And it actually felt good! I remember the first time I ran 3 miles and I was so proud of myself, I proved to myself it is possible to do something like this.

Then I did my first race, the Rex Lee 5K! I was so excited to be doing an actual race! I found my friend Jacey there and we started the race together! I had some friends come cheer for me as well!

A few months later, I found myself on the bus at 3:30 in the morning heading up to the starting point for the half marathon. I can still remember all my emotions I was feeling, almost felt like throwing up. I kept thinking, why am I doing this! The gun noise was heard, everyone cheered and we were off! I ran and ran and kept running and then at 12 miles I couldn't stop smiling! I was actually going to run the entire half marathon! Something I never had done before and I was doing it!!!! I was so excited! I had friends cheering for me and I felt so great! My dad came back and ran the last little bit me and I crossed the line! Best feeling ever! We loved it so much that we decided to do it again next year.

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So, I started training again. This time, I felt good because I have done a half marathon before. Training still was pretty hard. No matter how many times you run it, 10 miles is still a quite a distance to run. Six months later, Rachelle, my dad and I were on our way up the canyon and ready to accomplish our second half marathon! This time, I was still extremely nervous, but I knew I had done it once before, so I can do it again. When we started we were doing around 9  minute miles. I have never ran that fast before in my life! After three miles, I knew I would have to do the rest on my own because the other two were crazy fast! So, I stayed a pretty close to the 9.5 minute mile person and soon they got just a little ahead of me.  But I couldn't see the 10 minute mile person any where, so I was feeling pretty good! And I did it, I finished about 12 minutes faster than the year before!!!

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So, my next running adventures included training for a Ragnar! Something my roommate had done and I thought sounded so cool but didn't think I would be able to do! But I joined a team, paid the fee and I was in! It was one of my most favorite experiences! Running three different times, hanging out with people who are just as crazy as you are and even though we were all pretty sick by the end, we were happy and loving every minute! And I ran crazy fast!

I did some more 5ks, my favorite being the Santa Run! You know, many years ago, I didn't think I would be running, let alone in a Santa Suit in the cold! But it was fun!

Now, I am training for a marathon. Something that I always told myself, you never have to do that Tiare. Marathons are for crazy people.... but then you get Rachelle who somehow manages to convince us that a marathon is a cool thing to do! I remember how good it felt to reach the 14 miles mark, my first time going past a half marathons length. And then there was today, I did 20 miles! I had to finish my last 8 miles at an indoor track because a very cold rain storm randomly started! But, I did it!

Now, I have to do a shout out to my man Thomas. I texted him at about mile 7 when I was ready to give up. My hip hurt and I knew I needed to get to my 20 mile mark but walking it sounded okay. So, he being the amazing man he is, came to my rescue at mile 9. We did walk and run a little bit but then when the storm hit, we had to go to the track and he ran the 8 miles with me! He has never ran more than 4-5 miles in his life, so I am so grateful for him to do that for me because I know I would have given up on the 20 miles if he hadn't been there for me! I don't know how to thank him but I just got to say, I am one lucky girl!!!

 Okay, so there was my extremely long story of running and how I made it to this crazy point where I can now claim that I have ran 20 miles! And in two weeks, I will be able to claim a full marathon!