running makes me...

stronger. confident. peaceful. resilient. independent. sore. driven.
beautiful. sane. fast. out of breath. move. alive. grateful. fit. thoughtful.
interesting. inspired. athletic. tired. happy. fierce. aware. healthy.
sweaty. challenged. thinner. prepared. successful. blessed. tough.
proud. inspired. adventurous. patient (well, kind of). fun. consistent.
connected. joyful. balanced. competitive. compassionate. persistent.

(and i didn't even use a thesaurus.)

running has given me a lot, from goals set and achieved, to bruises that have scarred over. it's given me muscles and a sense of self.

but most of all it makes me a better person and i'm so lucky an old friend gave me this gift and i'm honored to keep putting one foot in front of the other in his memory.

after my first 5K.

every once in a while i find a source of inspiration in the pages of runner's world. i have had this one article on my fridge for months. it's about an undertrained runner faced with fierce competition prevailed to win the chicago marathon. the end reads...

"[he] has run faser races, he has won more celebrated races, but he has never run a more insporing race. he proved that even when you are not at 100% you can still give 100% of what you have. and he showed that believing in yourself is the most important principle of success."

if that's not a lesson in life and running i don't know what is. it's one that i strive to remember and apply to each day and each run (in a perfect world i do this, sometimes i need to be reminded).

because running makes me. i better give myself 100%.