Are you ready for it?

My first running medal rack. I have not counted how many medals are on it. Many are double or even triple placed.

About six months after my son was born, one of my friends and neighbors invited me to join a running group for moms. I’ll try anything once. I’m a yes person. So it wasn’t even a question.

I went! I went to a group run and was hooked. We would meet at various trails in East Orange County, Florida. I think the first meet up I went to was on the Econlockhatchee Trail. It is beautiful. There are also playgrounds there and even wooded trails to hike through the woods.

So we would often bring our babies and run with them in tow, enjoying a fast-paced, or in my case slow-paced stroller ride.

I am not a natural runner.

But honestly, why would I want to be fast?

Marathons are like Mullets. The REAL party is in the back. And I love me an epic party. More on that later.

So I ran. I made friends. We would meet at the same day and time every week. Sometimes I would go to two or three group runs.

They even convinced me to meet them at the Cady Way Trailhead in Winter Park, right next to Showalter Field where I used to cheer for the football team under the Friday Night Lights in high school, 10-plus years earlier.

I remember that morning was my longest run to date. I had 8 miles on my training plan.

But honestly, I hate training plans. I hate rules. I love to beat to my own drum. I am a problem solver. I will plan out my way to reach my goals or finish a project. I will do it very well.

But, a lot of runners are very anal. So, they somehow convinced me to show up at 6 AM in pitch black. People get shot on that trail. I don’t want to die.

Luckily I didn’t that morning. Or else I wouldn’t be here to tell you my story.

We buddy up, that’s great because women that run alone in this country unfortunately get murdered. We are not safe anywhere we go.

That day I paired up with someone named London. We clicked pretty quickly. She was a much more seasoned runner than me. I believe she had already run multiple full marathons at that point.

We had a great run, but she kept asking me to stop and get things out of her backpack for her. I don’t like waiting on other people, but I’m a people pleaser.

So I did.

At the end of the run, I felt I could have done better. I was not happy with my time. I knew even though it was the longest distance to date, I could’ve run faster.

So I politely told her next time I was doing a long run, I’d like to run alone.

That’s just how I am.

I trained hard. My longest run was 10 miles. That’s apparently part of a lot of training plans so I wasn’t very rebellious.

Then, on October 27, I woke up and drove to Lake Nona. I ran and finished my first half marathon. I had a blast celebrating with my running moms after. We went hard in the paint, because we all crushed it!

I was hooked and already planning my next half marathon.

The biggest smile as I’m eyeing the Lake Nona Half Marathon Finish Line on October 27, 2015. I wish I remembered which friend snapped this incredible picture that truly reflects the joy I felt in that moment.