Marathon Training! Week 5

Today I ran 9 miles! It’s my longest run ever. (I guess every long run from now on, including the marathon itself, will be my longest run ever. It sounds very dramatic, yet it’s true.) I was so jazzed that I ran the 9 miles (especially after a few small doubts last night) that I e-mailed my mom about it this morning. It went something like this… “I ran 9 MILES! That’s OVER AN HOUR AND A HALF of running!” I’m sure she would agree that accomplishing a 9-mile run calls for the use of all caps. After all, we both still remember when I decided to join the military how the thought of the 2-mile run brought me to tears. My running experiences at that point consisted of: 1) tripping and nearly falling off a treadmill in a crowded base gym, 2) throwing up after a run at the track in front of a group of people I had just met, and 3) throwing up before a timed run out of sheer nerves. I try to remember these experiences sometimes. Not because I enjoy recalling my most embarrassing moments, but because it reminds me that I’ve come a long way. And it reminds me that anything is possible. Even training for a marathon. For a once-hopeless non-runner like me. So I’m taking this hope and running - literally.