Well look who it is :)

I haven't written on my blog for a long time, but a lot of changes have been occurring in my life abd I needed time to let things play out... For the first time in over 4 years I can finally say I am truly happy and back to the "old me". I find myself smiling all the time these days and I am so thankful for getting back to this place. I just have such a new outlook on everything. I don't want to say I regret the past 4+ years, but I am thankful that I am getting the chance to get back to ME. Maybe that's the new wise, older, days-away-from-being-30 me :). Hahah. I am also beyond thankful for all of the support from my family and friends. And I know I have apologized to many of you, I also want to thank you all for putting up with me for the past few years and knowing that the old Lynne would come back (thanks mom!!) :)  Despite everything I was dealing with starting in February/march, I was able to continue training for my first marathon in May. Although I finished 18 minutes slower than I wanted, I still finished and I'm pretty damned proud of that. I can't say that I will NEVER run another marathon, but I think my knees would be ok with me not doing so! The last 6 miles of that marathon were the most painful miles ive ever run, but like I said in my first few posts, I refused to quit. And I wont lie, as I was running the last .2 miles I let out a few tears. Not only had my life flipped a few weeks before that race, I realized that I just finished one of the toughest goals I'd set for myself despite everything that I was going through. On the back of my shirt that day I pinned a note that said "no matter how slow you run, you are still lapping everyone on the couch". I kept that in mind as I was running by mile marker 18-26. I refused to let the drama that was my life leading up to that day, stop me from fulfilling my goal. Plus my BFF "made" me get 26.2 tattooed on my foot on thanksgiving so I couldn't give up knowing I was permanently scarred :) ahahha.  I had so much support the last few weeks before the marathon and I thank all of you for either running with me, carb loading with me, sending me a running package, or sitting at the finish line for over 4 hours waiting for me! I seriously have the greatest people in my life right now and I love you all! In the holy Grail of running it spoke about the runners high and what to do after the race. Well, for me, that was a big question I had. Being days away from the dreaded third decade I decided that another full marathon isn't an awesome idea right now. So... I have decided to run a half marathon every month for the entire year (knees pending). I would love to prove to myself that I can obtain another physical goal ive set. I'm not going to run for PRs but rather to enjoy the experience and races for what they are: a chance to prove to myself that I am strong, even when others try to knock me down, I know I will be strong enough to finish a 13.1 mile run. To enjoy new races that I've never run before and to stay in good physical condition. I'm going to try to blog more about this process for the next year, but as I learned a few months ago, life happens. So I'll do my best to chronicle my runs and races. :) Thank you again everyone! For more than supporting my crazy marathon goal, but for just being unbelievably awesomely great people! :)