Adding the Picture Show

Tonight I added the "slide show element" to my blog. Each picture was chosen carefully and each has a special significance to me and my journey of running. The baby in the infant carrier is my baby. She is my daughter and she is wearing a onesie with the Breast Cancer logo on it....the race track is one that she walked with me on our very first Mother's Day. It was Mother's Day 2006 and my darling daughter was about four weeks old. That little beauty trooped the 2006 Mom's On The Run event to support and promote breast cancer awareness in Reno, Nevada. Since that day, I have always felt she was born to run....and so was her mama!!!

The other pictures are of me running. I am pretty sure that I stated the obvious but I felt like clarifying, in case there was any confusion. I was uncertain about posting them because of my own vanity. I do not like the way that I look in any of those pictures. I don't like the way that I look when I am running. I posted them anyway because they are significant. I ran the Cowtown half-marathon on October 4, 2009. Yep, I ran 13.1 miles and I ran the entire distance. I did not walk at all, I did not stop at all....not even when I dropped my water belt that I vowed to never again wear. I did not stop when I drank water or when I ate GU. I did not even want to stop when I crossed over the finish line. Thus, my latest 26.2 journey!!! If you are reading this post then perhaps you have decided to follow along and I welcome that. Keep reading and please encourage others to do so as well. Invite your friends, family members, and co-workers to read along. Invite them to follow along on my journey. I promise it will be exciting.

Just look at the picture of my darling daughter, my handsome boy, and I....how could this journey not be exciting?

Making the Commitment to Run

For me, making the commitment to run is 80% of the battle. Making this commitment involves more than just simply saying that I am going to run. Making this commitment invloves more than I ever imagined. Making this commitment means that my daily life and schedule will change. Making this commitment requires at least four other people to make it with me. It requires time away from my family, my jobs, and my home. Making this commitment means that wages will not be earned, laundry will not be washed and folded, and I will not be there to see every circle drawn and every pea dropped on the kitchen floor. Making this commitment means that my husband will spend more time with our children at our home, that my mother will also pick up where I cannot, and that my kids will grow up seeing my commitment to running.

For me, running is my attempt to find the fountain of youth. Running is a commitment to health, fitness, and wellness. For me, running is a battle that I fight one mile at a time. From mile one to twenty-six point two, running is a commitment that I make one stride at a time. It is a commitment that I hope my children will make one day too!