The One With All The Running

**The first person to guess how I came up with the name of this post will receive a 5.00 Starbucks gift card**

Do you remember this post I wrote back in May? It was all about how I had started running, I was really enjoying it and it was something I NEVER thought I would do...remember?
Well, this past weekend, I had a chance to prove to myself that 1) I can actually start something and stick to it 2)I can actually make a goal for myself and not only accomplish, but exceed that goal 3)Running is amazing!
On Thursday evening, I left my boys (including the hubby) at home and headed off to Akron, OH to participate in the Akron Marathon. 2 people in our group were running the full marathon; 2 were running the 1/2 marathon, and 5 of us were doing a full marathon-relay style.
My leg of the relay was 6.3 miles, and I was third leg. Might I remind you that 6 months ago, I had started the running thing by running for 30 seconds, walking for 1.5 minutes for 20 minutes. I moved up the running chart and struggled each time I increased the running time and decreased the walking. So, here I was, ready to go at it for 6.3 miles of RUNNING! I had been training and was fairly confident that I would be able to complete the 6.3 miles in 72 minutes.
My friends, I am here to tell you, that not only did I RUN the entire 6.3 miles, I did it in 66.23 minutes!! It was so much fun! The entire weekend was a blast, for too many reasons to list, but accomplishing something I set my mind to was an amazing feeling. I just don't stick to much of anything. (IE College!!)
I'm not sure if I have the tenacity, time, or strength to ever do a full marathon, but I am really hoping and planning to accomplish a 1/2 marathon sometime in the next year....that would be an amazing feat for me!
I could not write all about this weekend without mentioning how amazing the friendships and laughter were. I had the opportunity to bunk with a stranger (although many people knew we would love each other) and as we said good-bye to each other on Saturday evening, we were like "summer camp sisters"...you know, the crying, the promising to write, the clinging to each other...it was something like that! One of the greatest things God gives us is friendship, and that was experienced to the fullest this weekend, it was really, even greater than the running thing!!

*I REALLY wanted to post some pictures, but I can't get them to work*