I would walk (run) 500 miles...

At some point in my childhood when we borrowed movies from the library all the time, we stumbled upon Benny and Joon. It's a cheesy movie (as I remember it) and I only realized the other day that Johnny Depp played Benny. But I'm forever grateful that it taught me the 500 miles song, for it brings me much happiness each time I hear it (and even more so when I sing along)!

This post has nothing to do with Benny and Joon, but the 500 miles part is kind of blowing me away right now. I started running in November 2009. Well, to say I was "running" then is overly generous. That's actually when I started spending 30 minutes a few times a week on the treadmill in a jog-one-minute-then-walk-for-two kind of effort. I slowly increased the time jogging and decreased the time walking, and I distinctly remember during Christmas 2009 on the treadmill at Bob's parents' house in Minnesota that I first ran a whole mile without stopping. Then I trained for a ran a 5K (about 3 miles) in March of 2010 and started to think I actually could become a runner. (Side note for anyone thinking about running and is discouraged with building stamina -- by far building up to that first 3 mile run has been the absolute hardest phase of this entire journey, so hang in there!)

I did not, however, think that I would ever run an insane distance, like a marthon or even a half marathon. And surely I would never run 500 miles. But my friend Lindsey kept inviting me to run a half marathon with her. I told her she was crazy. She kept saying it wasn't that hard. I continued to tell her she was crazy. She explained all I had to do was be able to run 3 miles and they would train me for the rest. I continued to tell her she was crazy. She said I just had to run 3-4 miles 3 times a week, then we had a group long run every Saturday morning. The long runs would start at 3 miles and we add a mile each week. I continued to tell her she was crazy.

But, after about the 19th time of repeating this conversation, I gave in and decided I should give it a try. I am, after all, quite competitive. So we started training in July 2010. Around this same time my neighbor Kim, also a runner, told me she keeps a log of when she runs and how far she goes, which is really cool when you hit a big milestone. Fast forward a few months and I successfully completed the Marine Corps Half Marathon in Jacksonville in October 2010 (one of the biggest thrills of my life - seriously). Ironically enough, Lindsey got pregnant not long after we started training, so I joined due to her persistence then she abondoned me (but I can't really complain since we now have precious baby Myles).

Lisa and Bob - my biggest fans!

Throughout my half marathon training and ever since, I followed Kim's advice and have logged each run. I've stayed pretty consistent with 3-4 runs per week usually around 3 miles but longer on the weekends when I can (except when I took about 2 months off when I had a stress fracture in my foot at the end of 2010). I also ran the Gate River Run 15K in March 2011 (with Bob - yay!) and now am getting ready to begin training for my 2nd Marine Corps Half Marathon in October.

And when you add up all those runs, which I began tracking on July 26, 2010, guess how far I've run (note the foreshadowing throughout this post)? That's right....I have run 500 miles in the past year! Now I hope I'm as successful in the upcoming year so I can properly complete my (slightly-revised) favorite song:

I would walk (run) 500 miles

And I would walk (run) 500 more

Just to be the man (woman) who walked a thousand miles

To fall down at your door

I got new shoes around 400 miles

Tops look mostly the same. The soles underneath, not so much.

Maybe in my next post I'll tell you all the reasons I love to run!