14 km

Today I ran the farthest I have ever run before in my entire life.  14 kilometers.  I googled 14 kilometers and found out some interesting facts.  14 kms = 8.6991967 miles.  14 kms is also the shortest distance between North Africa and Spain.  The troposphere, which is the lowermost layer of the atmosphere, is placed at approximately 14 kms above sea level.  I know that 14 kms took me 1 hour and 45 minutes to run, with walk breaks.  Slow and steady.  I also know that something magical happened at 14 kms today.  Something clicked inside my body.  I have known for months in my mind that I will be able to run a half marathon.  Half the battle is psychological.  Today my body agreed with my mind.  My body started to like running today.  Seriously.  I started running in January 2008 and today, March 9th, 2009 was the first day my body actually liked the motion of running.  Hallelujah!  Now, you may be laughing to yourself and that is ok.  I started laughing to myself, too.  Out loud, at the gym.  I have wondered for so many months when exactly running wasn't going to feel so hard.   When will it click?  Today.  Today.  Today.  I had tears in my eyes after my run.  14 kms down, and all I need to add on it 7 more kilometers?  8 more weeks of training?  Victory is mine!

"We improve ourselves by victories over ourself.  There must be contests, and you must win." Edward Gibbon