Rocket Fuel

I was writing in my journal this morning and stumbled upon a few sticky notes I had thrown in there forever ago!  There were three of them and all were something to do with race pace times and training pace goals.  My immediate reaction when I saw these was how far from those race paces I am today and how I may never set a personal record again given that somehow I managed to run a freakin' sub 1:40:00 half marathon ONCE UPON A TIME!  (Cray, right???)

That was six years ago and running at the time was my best friend, my boyfriend, my cheap therapy, my family, my way to cope with EVERY emotion, my social life, my only hobby, my second job,. I used to put my little dude in the jogging stroller(I blew through three of these during this period and it was the BEST investment I ever made) and literally own the streets of Aroostook County- mile after mile, road after road.  I took Aaden out when he was four days old and we stuck with that routine until he was too heavy to push up Lombard(County Running Babes, you feel me and totally know what I'm talking about). 

Fast forward as we near the end of 2020 and I begin to reflect on the last year.  Daily, monthly, annual goal setting has become my lifestyle!  Running was the gateway to this.  Running showed me that if you wanted something bad enough, there was a way to get there.  It didn't come easily and it certainly wasn't for the thin skinned but it was sure as hell possible.  With every new PR came a new goal and plan to achieve it.  Running opened me up to the concept and pure art of building a plan to achieve success.  My goals for 2020 and beyond will continue to evolve and look different but the adrenaline high that I chased during my first run was the rocket fuel that ignited a flame that will never burn out.