Today is my runiversary! And that's worth a post, right? 

Four years ago today, I laced up my sneakers and went out on my first run ever. I ran about 3 miles at about a 9:45 pace and I felt awesome!

But this hasn't been an easy or a smooth journey by any stretch. It started off really well with running my first 5K that same June with a finish of 26:51 and my first 10K in September run in 54:22. I had no idea if those times were good, bad or indifferent. I just knew I loved running and racing. In October I ran my first half marathon and in November, my first (and so far, only) marathon.

In less than a year, I ran a sub-2 hour half marathon (1:56) and I dropped my 5K time to sub-24 and my 10K time to sub-50. I was off to such a good start!

And then I just sputtered out.

Well really, first I got pregnant and I ran to maintain. I did run several 5Ks while pregnant and a half marathon. But right after pregnancy, just when I was ramping back up, I got sick from asthma and that's only just now, well over a year later, starting to clear up. 

Through it all, though, I kept on running. I ran (and raced) through the pain, the frustration, the depression, the stresses of life, the months of sleep deprivation with a baby, the not being able to breathe. I ran even when I didn't want to because I had hope that someday it would pay off. 

And now that I'm getting well, I know that perseverance will help me. I'm hoping I can pick up where I left off and start hitting those goals that I've put on the back burner for so long. I'm not writing those goals down yet because while my motivation is back, my confidence is still in hiding. After a few races that hopefully go relatively well, I'll break out the big "My Running Goals" post.  

It's fitting that today I did speedwork - mile repeats in the mid-day heat and humidity. With my motivation back, I was able to knock out some pretty decent repeats, especially considering I haven't been doing much speedwork at all lately. Those repeats came in at 7:29, 7:14, and 6:52. 6:52! That's so exciting and I'm finally catching a glimpse of the runner I know I can be. 

In total, I've run 24 5Ks, 4 10Ks, 11 half marathons, 1 relay, and a handful of other random distances. I've had some age group wins and one 2nd place overall, and I'm hoping I see some more of those soon and I'm definitely ready to take down my PRs.

So cheers to my runiversary! May there be many, many more!