Giving thanks
I am thankful for all of the people that helped me get in shape and get to the marathon well trained, motivated and ready to succeed. They are listed in roughly chronological order, starting with the people who pushed me to get in shape to begin with.
1. My Granny Gracie asked me an important question two years ago at Christmas: "Why did you have to get so fat?" She probably could have found a better way or place to say it, maybe not in front of my whole extended family. Granny was not one for subtlety, but she meant well (I think?). I wish she had lived to see me get in shape and lose twenty pounds. She lived a good long life full of telling people exactly what she thought and what more could you ask for?
2. SparkPeople gave me the tools I needed to lose the extra weight. I joined for the calorie tracking and stayed for the articles, community support and good advice. I'm so thankful for whoever had this awesome idea and all the folks who wrote articles, especially about running. Of course, it wouldn't be possible without the inspiration and support of the members. You're all awesome! My user name is erangel37 if you're interested in reading my previous blog posts there.
3. My fiance, Ian, who is so supportive and understanding. I am not an easy person to live with, and he handles it well. When I get irrationally angry or grumpy, he tells me to go for a run, or eat, whichever makes sense. I'm grumpy a lot, way too often to blame PMS or taper madness. To top it off, he actually wants to marry me and put up with my crap for the rest of his life. He is either a saint or masochistic. Saint Ian!
4. My family who have gotten fitter and faster with me. Mama possesses the enthusiasm of a teenager and was the first to take up running after I did. Then my brother and sister joined her in running the "pond 5k", a half mile loop that goes around the pond at the farm and back up the hill to the road. It's a tough course running trail hill repeats and I am humbled by it every time I try to run it. At least the hills are good to one of us, my brother Brian did his first 5k this summer and got third in his age group with a time of 23:00!
5. Nog Run Club, thank you for teaching me running can be social and a whole lot of fun! Running+trivia+beer is a winning combination! Monday night runs went from being the hardest to get in, to being something I look forward to all day.
6. Complete Runner, the training group that got me to my first half marathon and my first marathon. Before I joined, I had mostly trained alone and it was odd to run with a group. The longest run I had done was seven miles. Now I enjoy the company on long training runs and speed sessions. I've learned a lot from Coach Tim and the other runners. Thanks to all of you!
7. My coworker Katie who announced one morning that she had signed up for the Savannah Rock N Roll Marathon. I couldn't let her do it alone, could I?
8. My friend Elizabeth who bandited the Virginia Beach Rock N Roll Half Marathon to run with me. (I know, we're bad girls, lock up your sons.) She ran a marathon in college, when I thought she was crazy for running at all, much less running 26.2 miles.
I'm sure there are other things to be thankful for, but this blog is about running. Running and eating. I suppose I could also thank my college boyfriend Matt for teaching me to cook, but he really only knew five recipes and two of them were Mac-N-Cheese based. Hey, it was more than I knew. Thanks also to everyone who told me I'm crazy for running a marathon. My answer is yes, I am crazy! When's my next marathon?
1. My Granny Gracie asked me an important question two years ago at Christmas: "Why did you have to get so fat?" She probably could have found a better way or place to say it, maybe not in front of my whole extended family. Granny was not one for subtlety, but she meant well (I think?). I wish she had lived to see me get in shape and lose twenty pounds. She lived a good long life full of telling people exactly what she thought and what more could you ask for?
2. SparkPeople gave me the tools I needed to lose the extra weight. I joined for the calorie tracking and stayed for the articles, community support and good advice. I'm so thankful for whoever had this awesome idea and all the folks who wrote articles, especially about running. Of course, it wouldn't be possible without the inspiration and support of the members. You're all awesome! My user name is erangel37 if you're interested in reading my previous blog posts there.
3. My fiance, Ian, who is so supportive and understanding. I am not an easy person to live with, and he handles it well. When I get irrationally angry or grumpy, he tells me to go for a run, or eat, whichever makes sense. I'm grumpy a lot, way too often to blame PMS or taper madness. To top it off, he actually wants to marry me and put up with my crap for the rest of his life. He is either a saint or masochistic. Saint Ian!
4. My family who have gotten fitter and faster with me. Mama possesses the enthusiasm of a teenager and was the first to take up running after I did. Then my brother and sister joined her in running the "pond 5k", a half mile loop that goes around the pond at the farm and back up the hill to the road. It's a tough course running trail hill repeats and I am humbled by it every time I try to run it. At least the hills are good to one of us, my brother Brian did his first 5k this summer and got third in his age group with a time of 23:00!
5. Nog Run Club, thank you for teaching me running can be social and a whole lot of fun! Running+trivia+beer is a winning combination! Monday night runs went from being the hardest to get in, to being something I look forward to all day.
6. Complete Runner, the training group that got me to my first half marathon and my first marathon. Before I joined, I had mostly trained alone and it was odd to run with a group. The longest run I had done was seven miles. Now I enjoy the company on long training runs and speed sessions. I've learned a lot from Coach Tim and the other runners. Thanks to all of you!
7. My coworker Katie who announced one morning that she had signed up for the Savannah Rock N Roll Marathon. I couldn't let her do it alone, could I?
8. My friend Elizabeth who bandited the Virginia Beach Rock N Roll Half Marathon to run with me. (I know, we're bad girls, lock up your sons.) She ran a marathon in college, when I thought she was crazy for running at all, much less running 26.2 miles.
I'm sure there are other things to be thankful for, but this blog is about running. Running and eating. I suppose I could also thank my college boyfriend Matt for teaching me to cook, but he really only knew five recipes and two of them were Mac-N-Cheese based. Hey, it was more than I knew. Thanks also to everyone who told me I'm crazy for running a marathon. My answer is yes, I am crazy! When's my next marathon?
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