And how it begins

Who knew puking on the beach in front of a not small group of friends could ultimately lead to your proudest achievement?

When I first considered completing a triathlon, I thought, as did many of my own friends and family, "yeeeeaaaaahhhhhh....uh-huh". I thought it sounded like a fun idea, as diet/exercise plans always sound when you're just talking about them as opposed to experiencing them. I thought that I probably wouldn't finish the whole plan, but at least it would get me out there exercising for a few weeks, until my horribly predictable will-power expired.

A couple of months later, after many many days of sweating in the south Florida sun, imagine my surprise (nay, shock and awe) when I found myself plodding (slowly) toward the finish line!

In the days and weeks that followed, I realized that completing that sprint tri, however slowly, was the hardest thing I'd ever done. Ok, Ok. I realize that a "sprint" tri is NOT A BIG DEAL. But, to me, it was huge. It was the first time I ever had to try really really hard at something.

So, now, I'm starting to run. Because I want to get that feeling again, the one that you can only get when you work really hard and earn it by trying and trying and trying when all you want to do is quit. I have decided to run a half-marathon because it is HARD (but not toooooo hard, like a real MARATHON would be).