The 12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 2

Day 2: I'm thankful for Running and Nike+
I'm going to take a brief step back from deep thankfulness to share my appreciation for running. I can't believe those words are coming from me. Up until this past spring I have been completely unable to run farther than about a quarter mile. I could walk all day long, but running never happened for me. I have even tried to become a runner multiple times in my life, but never with much success.

I don't know what made it happen this time, but it probably has something to do with the Nike+ running system. If it's a gadget I'm all over it, so running plus a gadget was the winning combination. And, I must say that being able to run a couple miles consistently is probably one of my prouder accomplishments in life. Another huge benefit to the Nike+ system is the community. The fact that I have a couple friends who invite me to participate in challenges makes me run even when I really don't want to. I've found that getting my shoes on and getting out the door is really the hardest part of running for me.

Since May of 2008, I have run 69 times for a total of 174.41 miles. That includes a stretch of about 6 weeks after school started when I didn't run at all. I'm planning to run the Fort Worth Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day and then my goal is to run The Cowtown 10k in February. Then, in 4 years I will run the Marathon at the Olympics in London. Haha, just kidding about that last one!

Besides the obvious health benefits, running just makes everything better. My head is clearer, I sleep better, and it takes up time-something I often have too much of. So today I'm thankful for the sport of running. I'm thankful that it's been such an important and positive part of my life for the last couple months.