Here we are, just about to cross over into the next year, and the next decade. It seems so hard to believe how fast 2009 went speeding by. All in all, it was not a great year personally. Life is funny like that. Some years are great and everything goes your way, and some years seem like a test to see how much you can endure and hold true to yourself. This was one of those kind of years. I had personal saddness and witnessed so much tragedy around me. It really made me think about how much can change in one year, even in one second.
One of the most devastating events of the past year was my Grandpa Cutler passing away. My Grandpa was such a strong, kind and wonderful man. He was also an amazing runner. I remember when I was young knowing that he was a great runner but I didn’t know how gifted of a runner he was until I went to his memorial last spring. I found out that one 10 mile race, he finished in one hour. That is simply awe-inspiring.I run to remember him.
This past year I have rediscovered my love of running. I feel so lucky that I am able to train for races, to run for fun and thus far stay injury free.
I think back to how much this decade has changed my life. 10 years ago today I was ringing in the year 2000 with my family. I was 16, a junior in high school and could not run a mile without being sore for the next three days. Flash forward to 2010 and I’m 26. I’ve graduated high school, college, moved across the country without my family, had a few jobs, met a great boyfriend, moved in with him, adopted two wonderful dogs, and decided to change the way my life was going by actually taking care of my body. I started running in 2004. I haven’t always stuck with it, it’s been more of a love/hate relationship with the hate taking over for about a year, but here I am again, loving it. And next weekend I’m going to run 13.1 miles and have the time of my life doing it.
2009 was the year of 10K races. I completed three 10K races. The BolderBoulder in May, The MCM 10K in October and the Strong Legs Run Atlanta 10K in November. 10K is a fun distance. It’s longer then a 5K so I don’t feel like I need to sprint the entire way, but it’s not so long that it takes months to train for. Also, I improved my times at each of these races. I am almost to the point where I can break the one hour mark and that is a goal in this upcoming year. I finished this last 10K in 1:03. So close!
Even as I say that though, I will be spending the majority of 2010 training for and running in 1/2 marathons. Currently I am registered for two of them and seriously considering running in two additional ones. I am registered for the WDW 1/2 marathon (8 days!!!) and the WDW Princess 1/2 Marathon in March (9 weeks away). I’m running in the Princess 1/2 with my best friend Alicia from high school. I’m am excited to spend the weekend with her, laughing and challenging our bodies to run this distance.
I also really want to run in the Napa to Sonoma 1/2 Marathon in July and the WDW Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon in October.
So 2009 was the year of 10Ks, 2010 will be the year of 1/2 marathons, and who knows what after that. I really want to complete a Full Marathon in the next few years. I’m still not sure if I have the discipline to train for a full. Maybe after I finish my first 1/2 next weekend I will decide that it’s what I want to do next.
It’s exciting being able to look forward to the year ahead.
Happy New Year’s everyone! I hope that 2010 brings a year of dreams come true for all.
