This is where I landed

In the end, I have grown to enjoy running and I will most likely continue. I want to start over and train on a real schedule, to see how much further I can push myself. I crossed the finish line with a time of 34 minutes and 36 seconds, at a pace of 11:1:10 per mile. I was number 60 out of the 77 women running in my age group. That alone inspires me, makes me want to work on my running and come in under 30 minutes, within the top 50 runners. Carrie said it yesterday, now we have a number to work against, a personal best to top. I love that.

The greatest thing I got out of this challenge though is my newfound ability to stick with things, to muscle through the hard stuff. By willing myself to run an entire mile, then a mile and a half, then two miles without stopping, I have been able to will myself to push through other tasks. I willed myself to make it through a hideously tiring day of driving back and forth across the state, something I don't know that I could have done without the running. I even used it for work this weekend, willing myself to go to the Science Museum to shoot pictures for a math book. Just like with the running, getting myself there was the hard part. Once I got there, I got in the groove. The same goes for pushing through research when I'm on a tight time crunch. I am now able to convince myself to research 'just one more spec' just like I will myself to run 'just one more lap'.

So I've gained a lot. I'm less of a quitter, less of a complainer, more of a fighter. It's a very good thing.

Now bring on the cake!