13.1 Miles

I’m supposed to hate running. I’ve hated it forever. But I recently decided to give it a chance and it has become one of my favorite things to do. Back in December I decided to go out on a limb and sign up to run the Fargo half marathon. I think originally signed up with the intent of losing a couple pounds and even though that didn’t happen, this race meant so much more to me than I ever thought it would. Although 13.1 miles is nowhere near 26.2, it was quite a journey to get here and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Today was the day that I actually ran and it was one of the best experiences of my entire life. It was so cool to see the Fargo community come out and support the runners. There was no point during this run that I felt like I couldn’t keep going because they were constantly there cheering for us. It was insane to have that much support from people I didn’t know, and of course the people that I do know that were there to support me. I am so blessed to have such awesome friends who believe in me and push me to become a better person.

Shout out to my family for their incredible support and for always believing in me. I would especially like to thank my mom for dragging my butt around all weekend and navigating through the city of Fargo just so she could watch me run. Another shout out to some of my best friends, Kim Kafka and Nicole Trunk, who not only came out to support me, but have unknowingly pushed me to work harder than I ever thought possible. Thanks to Mary Rappa for her constant words of encouragement, Devan Luth for watching me cross the finish line. Huge thank you to Alex Elizarraga who is a main reason I decided I could do this. You are truly an inspiration for me and many others. Last but certainly not least, shout out to my girls Corrine Kastrup who ran 9 whole miles by my side and Hannah Bailey who has been there for me every step of the way offering advice and pushing me to work harder. The list for people who have supported me goes on and on and I would like to thank anyone that has offered words of encouragement. I am so blessed to have such awesome people in my life who believe in me and have helped me become the person (and runner!) I am today.

I think the most important part of this race was the fact that I set a goal and I achieved it. As I crossed the finish line, I was overcome with emotion because I DID IT. I put my mind to something and succeeded. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be running 13.1 miles, I would have laughed in your face. But I decided I wanted to do it, and I did it. There were some rough patches during training and at times it was difficult to pull myself out of bed for a run, but I did it. I pushed through and it was amazing to see my training pay off.

I set a goal to finish in 2 hours and 11 minutes and I finished in 2 hours 11 minutes and 41 seconds. Needless to say, I am incredibly proud of myself. This is my biggest accomplishment to date for a lot of reasons but I think a big one was because I had no one telling me to do this. It was all me. This experience has shown me how easy it can be to achieve your goals and how great you will feel after you have accomplished them. (Especially when you can eat whatever you want without feeling guilty!)

Please don’t ever hesitate to reach above and beyond because if you dig deep, you will find that you have what it takes.

And just because I was told I had to….

I am f***ing awesome.