I used to be a runner...

The key word in the post title is used.

Back in the spring of 2006, I found a new addiction. Running. I had been dabbling in running for the past two years, but some switch was flipped in me in the spring of 2006. Err, maybe it was the result of yet another painful break-up (this time with a guy named Matt, whom I've never mentioned in this blog). Jeez, how many of these does a girl need to go through before she can find her prince? I digress.

Anyways, I started training for my first half and was hooked. Um, I am a bit of a planner, so I took well to the 1/2 marathon training regimen. I loved that there was a grid that told me exactly how far I needed to run each night (thank you, Hal Higdon). I loved adding up the number of miles that I had ran each week. When I hit the halfway point of the training, I thought: 'huh. This hasn't been bad at all. Maybe I should do a marathon.'

Let me pause and just tell you that out of all of the people in my family, I would have been identified as "Least Likely to Run a Marathon." Seriously. I've never excelled at any sports. Any. I'm not being modest when I say that. I am being honest. My dad was a great athlete - I think he took first at State in the 400m or 800m when he was in HS? Can't remember which one. So there are some athletic genes in my gene pool, but I wasn't the lucky recipient of those genes.

But for some reason, at the age of 25, I took to running like a house on fire.

I ran my first marathon in October of 2006. It was an amazing experience. I blogged about it here.

Flash forward to the present. I rarely run anymore. Working full-time and going to Grad school part-time in the evenings has kicked my arse. Seriously.

But it's all over on Monday. I'll sit through my final class and when the clock strikes 9:05 - I am free. No more group meetings, paper deadlines, or excel finance models to create. Alleluia. Many people have asked - 'So what are you going to do with all that free time?'

Easy. The 3 R's: Read, Run, and Relax.

A marathon isn't in the cards for 2009, but I would like to do a 1/2 this fall. I'm joining a running group - my first run will be tomorrow morning! I did 100% of my training for my first marathon alone. It worked for me, and I wouldn't change a thing, but for my next half/full marathon, I'd like to have some companions on those long runs. Especially the 14+ mile runs!

And after getting back on track, I plan on finding a marathon to train for.

I'll leave you with a funny little picture that I found here. This sign represents what my family was probably thinking when they were waiting for me at the finish line of the marathon in '06!