Looking back...

"A marathoner is a marathoner regardless of time. Virtually everyone who tries the marathon has put in training over months, and it is that exercise and commitment, physical and mental, that gives meaning to the medal, not just the day's effort, be it fast or slow. It's all in conquering the challenge."

You have to sacrifice a lot to do a marathon.

1) sleep - no more sleeping in on Sundays, plus extra early mornings for weekday training

2) weekends - 16 weekends of long runs means 16 weekends of watching what you eat/drink, what time you get to bed, etc.

3) time - not only while running, but the extra showers, the extra laundry, mapping routes, planning runs, etc

4) freedom to socialize/be spontaneous - if you don't put your runs first, you won't do them

5) feet - they get pretty nasty

6) skin - I had a scab from my sports bra for 3 months straight

7) pants - thanks to chub rub, I'm going to need to replace almost every single pair of capris I have

8) mobility - between my knee and general soreness, I struggled going up and down stairs more than I'd like to admit

9) freedom to do other exercises - at some point, you can pretty much only handle running

10) zip-up boots - my calves got too big...


But what you gain is so much bigger than all of those combined one hundred times over. At first I was hoping to lose 25 pounds (yeah I know...huge goal). That didn't happen, but you know what? I don't hate my body nearly as much as I have in the past. I am PROUD of my legs. I am PROUD of my feet. I am PROUD of my butt and hips. They all have taken me so much further than I ever thought I'd be able to go. I'm proud of my stomach - it might not be flat, but it stays calm during my runs, and that is MUCH more important than being supermodel perfect. I am proud of my arms - they carry my iPod, they carry my water bottle, they give hugs to all of the people who love and support me. And speaking of those people - never in a thousand years would I have dreamed that I would have such an amazing group of friends. They listen to me with enthusiasm even though it might be the thousandth time I've talked about running, they calm me down and encourage me when I freak out, they give tough love when I want to skip a run, they say it will still be ok if I manage to ignore the tough love and still skip it...

A marathon is a journey of love. It starts with a love for running, and in the process you learn to love yourself and realize how much you are loved by others.

I'm so lucky.