Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The end is just the beginning


3 years ago. 3 years ago I was happy. 3 years ago Chloe was still little. 3 years ago I had a lot of friends. 3 years ago I was quite content in my job. 3 years ago things were going really well in my life, for the most part.

3 years ago, running in Disney World was not even a blip on my radar.

Then I received the kick in the butt I needed (see here for the full story) from two amazing friends (yes, Tana and Stephen, that would be you). Thus, leads me to today and what is about to happen in the next week.

As most of you know, I am going to be running the Goofy Challenge in Disney World next weekend. That means running a half marathon on Saturday, January 8th, and a full marathon on Sunday, January 9th. Yep, that's why they call it "The Goofy". For me, personally, this will be one of the biggest accomplishments of my life thus far. Plus, being able to run in a place that I have spent many years of my life with my family, will be a huge bonus. Oh, and this trip will also be an adventure as there are quite a few people that I have been introduced to thanks to that website, Twitter. I am really looking forward to meeting and connecting with many of the Disney, running, and teacher's that I have connected with on there down in Disney World, next week.

Lots of people have asked me, "what is your goal for this?" My answer, "well, I have never run a half marathon and a full marathon back to back. Let's just make it through with a smile on my face." Secretly, I have my times in my head that I would like to see. However, I don't mention them as I don't want to be under any pressure. I just really want to enjoy both the runs and get through them. Plus, receive the 3 medals for the accomplishment (half marathon medal, full marathon medal, and one for doing both).

Now, why is it the end? Well, after next weekend I am going to take a year off from running full marathons. My last three summers have been spent training for the Queen City Marathon in Regina, Saskatchewan. Plus, for those three years I have been shaving half hours off of each marathon that I ran. My time goal this year was to get under a 4 hours and I beat that goal with a time of 3:56:29. I am still going to work on my half marathons and getting faster and better times there. I will aim to beat my 1:36:34 in April at the Regina Police Services Half Marathon and hopefully place further to the top in my age ranking (which is now 30-35). I will also participated in the half marathon on the Queen City in Regina next fall.

Still, there is a beginning to all of this. My hope is that over the next few months without training for a full marathon (which lots of us know takes up a significant amount of time) I will have the time discover more activities related to testing my new ambitions for physical activity. I have been toying with the opportunity to try a short triathalon, boxing, kick boxing, and many other activities that people have mentioned to me. I can't wait to see what is in store. When I return from Disney World I will have the Hypothermic Half Marathon 2011 waiting for me on February 20th (running in the -20 degrees celsius weather OR COLDER for my buddies from the USA). So, still lots on the go when it comes to keeping busy. Plus I am looking forward to spending some time with people as they are striving to reach their fitness goals! Time to start paying it forward!

For me, I can't complete this post without naming some people that have gotten me to this point in my life. These people have been there to encourage me, teach me, push me, and yes, even yell at me to keep going in reaching my goals. So, Dad, Mom, Tana, Stephen, Renee, Lonny, Derrick, Blake, Chloe, Beckie, Kevin, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, Tiffini, Cory, Stacy(thatgirl, lol), my church family, my cross country team at school, Prairie South (for approving the time off for me to go run in Disney), THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!! There is nothing else I can say!

Now, I am going to start the next section by naming all the people who believed I COULD NOT accomplish these goals over the last 3 years. They include......ok, that would be pretty mean. However, I would like to even thank them for not believing in me. Your doubt added fuel to my fire and I appreciate it very much! By the way, how is your fitness level? Have you changed at all? No? That's what I thought.

So, here we go! I will have another post after I get back to tell you about my experience. I am really looking forward to it!

Happy 2011! May it be filled with joy and finding out what you can accomplish when you put your mind and body to it. Will it take work? YEP! All you have to do is start. #getoffthecouch (Twitter people, you know that one!)