My new addiction!

I have a new found addiction...RUNNING! I know it's crazy, but I LOVE running! I didn't think I would ever say that! My memories of running when I was a kid involve middle school P.E. class where every year we had the mile run. I always hated that day! I found myself huffing and puffing around the field with an cramp in my side! It is because of these wonderful memories, I just considered myself a NON-runner!!! As I got older, I have always tried to be involved in some type of physical exercise, for health purposes, but running was never on the list. That is up until now!!!! When we moved into our neighborhood I joined the ladies Bible study. Several of the ladies in the group run together. They encouraged me to join them. Anxious to make friends and get to know these ladies better, I decided to join them and give running another chance! I am so glad I did! We meet at 5:30am, five times a week for our run. It is great to have this accountability. I know there have been numerous mornings I did not want to get out of bed, but I know I have a group of ladies waiting on me. We run about 4.5 miles during the week and leave Saturdays for our long run. It took some time for me to build up my endurance, but the training had paid off. A few of my running buddies have been training for different races. I thought this was a great goal to have so I started training for a half marathon (13.1 miles). Last December my sister and I did the half marathon together. We trained on our own, but ran the entire race together. It was so much fun and left us with such a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. There is another half coming up in April and I think I am going to run in it too! Most of my running buddies are doing this race, so it should be a lot of fun to do it together! I love these ladies. We spend our mornings just chatting about what's going on in everyone's lives. We pray for each other and hold each other accountable! I am so blessed to have such great running partners!!!