Two Years To The Day - A Two Year Reflection

It's hard for me to realize it's been two years to the day since I signed up to train for my first marathon. I remember and have outlined all the emotions I was going through at the time. So filled with self doubt and uncertanity. Felt so afraid to even go home for fear of what was to come next. When I really think about this journey and what brought me to runnning it's a constant source of pride. Given my life experiences at the time, I went through a lot for me. I look back at the marathons, the people I've met and I regret nothing. I gave everything I could in the events leading up to me running and put everything I could into my running. From running I've found a strength I never knew before. I became a more complete person. Tactical and strategic, bold but quiet and maybe most important nice but not afraid to stand up for myself and try to get what I want.

I'm proud of the person I've become, proud to say I've done something crazy like run a marathon and even prouder to say I've completed three marathons (and four by the time February comes) in under two years (if you count the clock at my first actual marathon April 26, 2008). I'm proud to say I'm a runner, an ahtlete but most of all, I'm proud to be me.

One quote I've always thought that reminds me of what I accomplished comes from the Shawshank Redemption: "Andy crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want to. Five hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile. Andy Dufresne - who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side." - Shawshank Redemption