It was a brisk winter's 23* when I began my last run of 2010. The rays of the sun felt good despite the coldness in the air. I pressed the start button on my watch and began the year's final miles.
There is excitement to be felt standing on this side of the stroke of 2010's last midnight; excitement in savoring the successes of the year. When I began the year I had made the decision to get serious about my running. I did many things that put me out of my comfort zone and became some of the best decisions I could have made.
One of the first decisions I made was to join a local running group dedicating themselves to improving. This group didn't care how fast you ran, just that you wanted to get faster. And I wanted to get faster. We worked hard in our workouts and runs, logging countless miles together. Well, in reality that is not true, each one of us can tell you exactly how many miles we ran as we all live and breathe by our Garmin watches; we even named ourselves Team Garmin. If you found yourselves near us on the start of our runs, it was not uncommon to hear "Wait a minute! I'm still locating!" These fellow runners make me smile and have become some of my most favorite people.
I reach my turn around point and head for home. The winter sun shines in my eyes, but I do not mind. Sun and clear blue skies are not common in our winters and I am enjoying every moment of it. I glance at my watch noticing my pace is faster than I expected. I decide to keep pushing, the pace feels good.
The year brought me several firsts. March 27 I ran a 15k placing 3rd in my age group, at 41 years old I found myself looking at my first ever race ribbon. As the year went on, I would place in two more races and have 4 personal bests. This brings incredible sense of accomplishment and delivers a greater determination to work towards my Boston goal.
My road lies ahead and I turn toward my home. The final run is over finishing out my 2010 season. One year ago I wondered what 2010 would hold for me and it gave me one of the best running years I've had. Standing in the driveway I hit the stop button on my watch.
My next run will be with my friends in 2011, I can't wait to see what that year will bring.
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