'365 Days a Year until Infinity' road race

Well, I have officially started running again-not just the ‘Oh, I’ll do it when I get a chance, but the ‘I have to do it today if it kills me’. The latter may prevail in the end. Up at 5:00 a.m. driving to the gym to run on a machine is definitely not my idea of a relaxing run, but I have to start somewhere and it’s better than nowhere. What is it about tread mills that makes two miles feel like five miles? Anyway, the decision to finally get back to it has nothing to do with the New Year or resolutions; it is just TIME!

Like I said a few days ago, we have nestled into a comfortable place. And as I was writing those words and re-reading those old posts of a year ago, my own words started swirling around in my head. I re-read the post about running early mornings with a group of friends and how much I missed it then and found my jaw hitting the floor that an entire year had passed since then. Not only are things becoming comfortable, they are becoming complacent. How did that happen? It's been wild and crazy for so long I think it has snuck up on us. So it is time to start shaking things up. Who says that we can’t start doing things we love to do.... again?

So I started looking around. There’s a 10K coming up in February; that’s my goal. Then in March there is a ½ Marathon, it may be setting a bar a little high, but maybe, just maybe, I can torture myself enough between now and then to at least attempt it. If I get the courage, I might even try to run a short run with the marathoners again. We’ll see how it goes.

Physically my body is not looking forward to the measures it is about to undergo to get back in shape. Ivey will be two in April. So round up to two years add to that nine months of pregnancy, and you have one out-of-shape girl. Oh, it is so time! Mentally getting up in the morning has been easy. It’s the thought of what’s to come that scares me, my lungs and my muscles to death. It is always easier to run with someone, so I wonder if I have what it takes to do this on my own for now.

I have thought a lot about one thing though. We have been running a marathon of sorts this past year. When we were running the hills, normally we did not know it until we hit the top and started coasting back down. I wonder what God calls this race we are now running? Would anyone knowingly sign up to run if they knew it to be ‘The 365 Days a Year until Infinity’ race? One thing I have definitely learned. This race we are running is no longer about out running the bad. It is now about running the hills as quickly as possible, no matter how steep they are, taking deep breaths and knowing that something good and great awaits us at the top. For us that reward are two little boys and one sweet little girl. The reward at the top of the hill is too great to never enter the race!!

So, Happy New Year everyone!