a big weekend

I turned 40 on Saturday. I know most people dread that birthday, but honestly, I was excited about it. 40 is a big deal. It's not something to dread, it's something to embrace. And I did. With gusto.

A few months ago I decided that age as all about attitude and if I wanted my 40s to be the best years of my life, then they would be. In order to make that happen, I had to take back control of parts of my life that I had let go. My health, my weight, my attitude.

I found out that the Little Rock Marathon was the day after my 40th birthday so I decided that was fate. That was the universe telling me to get off my fat, lazy bum, and get back to me. The healthy, happy me.

So in October I started training for the half-marathon. God I hated it. Every damn agonizing minute of it. I fell off the wagon a few times. Did the self-sabotage thing I'm so good at. Whined, moaned, groaned and almost quit.

But around Thanksgiving, something in my brain clicked. If I wasn't going to do this now I would never do it. And what kind of example would I set for my kids if I just gave up? So I changed my goal to run the 5K and I started pounding the pavement and training 4-5 days a week. After about four weeks, I realized I was no longer bitching about the gym. I was actually enjoying it.

What the hell had happened?

Well, I was feeling fantastic. Better than I had in years. And I didn't want that to go away.

Yesterday was the big day. I had a goal to run the entire 5K (3.1 miles). I knew it was going to be hard, the furthest I had run so far was 2.25 miles so I was basically adding another full mile to my run. Another 13-14 minutes. I didn't know if I could do it, but I was going to try.

Well, I did it.

I ran the whole way. Averaged a 13.33/minute mile and I finished in the top half of the registered participants.

I felt like a rock star when it was all over. A tired rock star, but a rock star nonetheless.

This just goes to show that no matter your age, size, or limitations, you can do anything you set your mind to. If you had asked me a year ago if I would ever run and enjoy running a 5K I would've hurt myself from laughing.

Now I'm planning to do more.

So set your goals. If I can do this, you can do anything!