My First Mile

I woke up this morning with something to prove.  To myself, that is.  I was going to prove that I could run a mile without stopping.  I walked out to the corner at 6:30am and started on my way.  Guess what?

I DID IT.

I don't know my time because that wasn't important.  All I wanted to do was accomplish this little feat that I had never done before. 
I know a mile is nothing to several of my friends who run all of the time, but the mile was always intimidating to me. 

We were required to run a mile when I played girls basketball in high school.  I walked part of it.
We were required to run a mile in Fitness for Life in college.  I walked part of that, too.

After that, I accepted that I wasn't an athlete and that it was just something I couldn't do.

I brought back the goal of running a mile after I had Rachel, but forgot about it until just recently.

The mile.  Could I?

Last spring, when I was frustrated with the weather and life in general, I decided there was one thing I did have control over.  I brought back the consistent exercise 5-6 days a week (just 30 minutes) and started to prepare fewer frozen pizzas and hot dogs on busy nights.  My goal was not so much to lose weight, but to get physically stronger than I had been before. 

Well, a few months later, I am stronger now than I have probably ever been, but I still didn't know if I could do it.  Running has always been something I avoided.  Give me just about any other form of exercise instead! 

Still, the goal of running a mile never left me, so I had to get it accomplished.

Even if I never identify myself as a runner, I can now check this one long-held goal off the list. 

Yes, that's right, Laura CAN run a mile.