Looking Back

I've been doing a lot of looking back this week. Dug out the old journals and pictures for a story I want to write, and of course got sucked into "The Box." I had been trying to remember exactly when it was that I started running, and I just happened to stumble upon it in an old journal.

I was 26 the year I started running. That was also the year that I traversed the country six times (by planes, trains, buses, and automobiles), and got Lyme’s Disease. When I started running, I was still a smoker. But these are not compatible activities, and eventually running won out. This was also the year that I ended up back in Montana again, and have been here ever since. At the time, however, I was living with my father in upstate NY.

The journal entry states that I went out and bought some trail running shoes. I'd been working out at a gym in the mornings before work but the weather was finally getting nicer (spring!!) and I planned to let my gym membership expire and start running outside. So I guess I've always been a trail runner. When I moved to Missoula, I started running in Pattee Canyon.

I ran to stay fit, and to be outside. I didn't train for anything, and rarely even knew how far I had run. It wasn't until after I had two kids, and needed to get back into shape, that I decided to train for anything. My first race ever was the Missoula 1/2 marathon in 2008.

It is fun, looking back, and seeing how far I've come.