In the spring of 2007, I decided that it was time to have a new hobby. I have always been someone who likes to find something and really take ownership of it. I wanted to find something that would be a challenge, fun, hard physically and emotionally, while also rewarding. So, after never running any type of race before other than middle school track, I decided I would run the Bloomington half-marathon. My dad is a super star runner (for real) and he kindly said he would run with me to pace me and help me get through what was sure to be a grueling run. I remember telling my parents and Jeremy in Olive Garden that spring that I had found a 12 week training program and I feel like they probably were wondering if I would actually pull through with it. And…. I did! 12 weeks later I beat my goal of 2 hours by running an 1:55 on a really tough, hilly course and there started my love for running. I seriously love it and could go on for tons of blogs about all my reasons for loving it but the that doesn’t really matter to anyone but me : )
Fast forward a few more races and 2 1/2 years later where I for some reason decided I would train for a half marathon after our wedding. It was in May and I thought this would be a good way to stay in shape since they say you tend to gain weight after getting married (how true that is, especially when you are a married to a man who eats everything). Well, turns out that we didn’t have a workout facility on our honeymoon so I didn’t start training until about 4 weeks before the race. that’s so not a good idea. I was definitely wondering how this was going to go and if I really wanted to attempt to run it when I got a phone call from my 2 best friends who surprised me and came up to cheer me on with their fiance/boyfriends!
I’m writing about this today because we just talked in church today about the importance of true friends; friends who encourage you, spur you on, and are also not afraid to be truthful with you. Jeremy and I have talked numerous times about our genuine friends and how you really find out who is there to support you for a lifetime once you move away from your “college bubble”, which for us was Bloomington. I have never felt more love from people then I do from Em and Heather and Jeremy feels the same way about Ty and Michael. We are so thankful to have them in our lives and that God continues our friendships even when we are no longer in the same city.
But before I talk more about our friends, I definitely want to give every ounce of love I have to my hubby, who woke up at 5am with me that day, calmed me down as I was freaking out on the way to the race (I didn’t have my timing chip), and still went and worked 9 hours later on that day. I couldn’t love anyone more than what I love him and he gives me more support than anyone in the entire world.
waiting for the race to start… Jeremy still has his sleepy eyes 
I hadn’t seen any of the “fan base” for a few miles and was starting to think I probably wouldn’t see them until the finish when all of the sudden I hear “Good job hunnie, I love you!” haha and it was Jeremy with Em and Michael..they followed me for almost a mile in our car. 
Favorite sign.. Heather and I ran the Indy Mini a few weeks before and carried our own water bottles because we were scared that with 35,000 people there, someone had to have swine flu…
Thank you for coming!
In the end, I didn’t hit my goal buuuut it’s okay because there’s more to come this summer & fall. Rumor has it that Jeremy might even be doing a smaller one with me
The race went fine but I would never ever do it again. Seriously, 35,000 people is retarded to have trying to run at one time. We didn’t even cross the start line until 20 minutes 
