Run. Stop.

Two thousand fourteen, resolution number four.
Become a runner.
My intention was to be careful and avoid injury.
But I am of the Mark Pauls family. One of the things that we seem to be born with is a competitive nature. That competitiveness drove me to become one of those "all in or all out" types which can be both a very good, and a very bad thing. This attitude became a big problem when it came to the runner that I wanted to become.

I didn't listen to what my body was telling me, pushed myself to hard, and managed to get myself injured with what I thought was shin splints.
Since we are a active family and playing sports together in summertime becomes a daily event, I knew I wasn't going to quickly heal from this "minor injury". So I decided to suck it up and just keep on running.
Mistake number two.

To make a long story short, through research I have determined that I do not have the symptoms of shin splints as I had previously assumed, rather of tibia stress fractures. Not only that, I have somehow managed to acquire a new injury in my foot, which demands rest.
So I stop, until healed.
Which will make it impossible to compete in the "Thanks for Giving Run" this year, and I will also be unable to complete my marathon training.
(Which makes me sad. But I'll get over it.)

Even though the "running season" ended in a sour note, and I did not end up running any of the races that I had intended, I did learn a lot.
I learned about different paces that aid to reduce risk of injury and completely shifted my training method.
I learned that speed coupled with endurance is not always necessary to build strength for the long run (I don't always have to run 5k pace!).
I learned that there are different types of runs, (recovery runs, long runs, threshold runs, interval runs, steady runs ect.) and each of them are fun!
I also learned to increase quantity, running up to 8 times and 40 miles a week.

I did become the runner that I have always wanted to be, maybe not the way that I wanted to... but still, a runner.

Now, as wintertime swiftly approaches and racing season comes to an end, I determine to get back in to the activity I have learned to love once I am again in running shape.
Becoming therefore one step closer to being the woman I know I was created to be.