Previous running history

This morning I was pondering how I came to believe I have 26.2 miles in me. Or 13.1 in each leg, that sounds easier, doesn't it? :)

I believe I can trace my running career back to 1997, when I took part in a 5km Race for Life charity event as part of the British Airways team. At just 25 years old, I struggled to run the entire 3 mile distance.

How funny that I now do twice that before breakfast without blinking; I get a huge kick out of beating my 25-year-old self and look forward to my 60-year-old self doing 3 hour marathons. But I digress.

At our next Race for Life, my friend Audrey said she enjoyed it so much she planned to do a 10k. Good grief, that seemed an impossibly long distance and utterly unattainable! Even though Beloved Husband and I would go for runs in Bushy Park, I never really got the hang of it and 3 miles felt like a long way.

In 2004, hubby and I moved to San Francisco and found ourselves living on a flat piece of land, with views of the Bay and easy, safe, scenic trails outside our front door. Winter was mild and it was unusual for both Saturday and Sunday to be wet. We started to jog more regularly.

Bay to Breakers is a famous San Franciso 12k race, although I use the term race mildly - it's more of a moving party and if you're a serious runner, you'll probably steer well clear. However, being new in town, we wanted to give it a try. Despite the wet and slippery tortillas on the course (don't ask) we survived intact.

This was followed by the Emerald Across the Bay Race, which is still one of my favorite routes: one way across the Golden Gate Bridge from Sausalito to Ghiradelli Square.

And whaddya know, a 1/2 Marathon followed in February 2008. To date, that is the furthest I have ever run.

Photo thanks: Roy Appleyard, Gene Cohn Photography