First stop: 5K!

In my quest to make it to 13.1 miles, I've realized that there are a lot of big milestones along the way that I just totally skipped.  That's pretty typical for me, actually- I get really overzealous and I want to just go, go, GO!  This time, though, I've decided to fill in a few of those gaps, the first of which is an official 5K!  I mean, I've run 5K before, but never at an actual event, so I rounded up my family and we registered for the Piedmont Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  I'm really excited- I think it'll be fun to do something all together as a family and burn some calories before the big dinner!  I'm not really planning on racing; I'm just going to use it as one of my training runs and just go at my usual steady pace (I'm aiming to finish around 35-36 minutes, which is my current 5K time).  My brother, however, is a different story!  He's one of the captains of his cross-country team and can generally run a hilly 3-mile course in 18 or 19 minutes- around a 6:00 per mile pace (almost twice as fast as me- I generally do long runs as about 11:30 pace).  Long story short, he'll end up smoking us all.  The race also gives out awards for the top 3 finishers in each age group; who knows, maybe he'll end up placing!

You know, I've noticed something lately: this blog started out as a way for me to chronicle my journey to my first half-marathon and to keep my family, friends, and generous donors updated on my progress.  (Speaking of which, the fundraising is going really well..... Again, thank you so much to everyone who has donated; your generosity is greatly appreciated!)  However, I feel it turning into so much more than that, because this journey is becoming so much more than the road to a half-marathon: it's the road to a new life and a new sense of self.

Since my discovery and subsequent proclamation last week that I have officially fallen in love with running, I have been trying to figure out what it is that I love about it.  I suppose that part of it is the excitement of racing and the prospect of accomplishment, but I know that something so small and so far off can't be the source of my everyday motivation and willpower.  That's not what gets me up and going.  That's not what makes me feel more and more weightless with each step.  That's not what makes me sad when I finish my long run, knowing I'm facing two whole days of rest and cross-training.  There has to be something more, and I've been trying to figure out what it is.  And I think I may have put my finger on it.

To help with flexibility and build joint, muscle, and tendon strength, I've been taking yoga once or twice a week with an instructor named Isabelle DuSoleil (what an awesome name, right?).  She teaches in a style that she herself invented, called Energetic Vinyasa Flow, which focuses on using breath, energy, and rhythm in order to create inner strength and mindfulness.  I really love it, and I feel like it has helped me so much and in so many ways, but something Isabelle said during Monday morning's class really struck me.  She has said it before, but this time it clicked: she referred to yoga as the "moving meditation."

Moving meditation.  That's what I love about running.  It requires so much energy, so much focus, and so much strength that there is no room left in my body or mind for anything else.  I am totally alone with myself.  And it's changing me.  With every mile, every minute, and every step, I can feel my body, mind, and spirit strengthening.  I feel strong, powerful, determined, and, most of all, peaceful.

Running is meditation in motion.