Adventures # 1, 2, 3 and 4

Sunday, I ran my first half-marathon. It was a hard thing to do. I lost faith in myself on the 9th mile and walked it. At the ten mile marker, I realized I had three miles left, an easy run after weeks of 6, 8 and 9+ mile runs through Tempe. I can do this, I can finish at a run. And though my run was slower than some of the walkers around me, I did it. I made it. I finished 13.1 miles.

Friends and family asked: "How did it feel?"

"It felt great!" I said, even as I nursed my knees, cheering for the Cardinals from my seat, feet propped on a pile of pillows.

"It was a great way to start off the new year," I added.

And it was. It was only the 18th of January and already I checked off one of my biggest goals of the year: This year I will run the Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon - finally! (It had been on my list for five years.)

Another of my 2009 goals: This year I will find adventure.

I had anticipated that these adventures would be as big and bold as my half-marathon run. And some of them may very well be. But, as I discovered this past weekend, some of these adventures may be as simple as: 1) taking the light rail downtown; 2) finding a new (to me) restaurant and actually trying it (instead of wimping out and going to one of the places I've already been to); 3) getting my husband to take the day off of work and making it a date.

So...here's to the big (and little) adventures we'll have in 2009!