Monday, January 26, 2009

Kristin


I've been an athlete my whole life, taking an interest in soccer at a young age, running track and becoming an avid snowboarder in college, and recently, becoming a runner! It all started in January of 2008 when I got a flier in the mail from Train to End Stroke. I was going to be turning 25 and I thought it would be awesome to train for and complete a marathon. So that's what I did. Along the way I met Tara and Aron, and we quickly became friends and running partners.

Training for the San Francisco Marathon was such a great experience. Week after week I would hit another "mile" stone in my running life. I'll never forget how I felt after running 16 miles. For some reason, that run just really struck me as being a huge accomplishment. I was like "wow, I just ran 16 miles...I can't even imagine adding 10 more to that!" but I did, and I completed the SFM, my first marathon, on August 3, 2008.

Aron and Tara became staples in my running life. We compared shoes, running attire (I think the gear is sometimes more fun for us than actually RUNNING!), supported each other and continued to develop our friendship. When Tara ran the Nike Women's Marathon in October, Aron and I went to support her. That is where I met Maritza for the first time. Aron and I were so emotional for them and so happy to be there cheering them on! It was a great day. We stood a mile from the finish line waiting to cheer on Maritza and Tara. When we saw Maritza, Aron and I went out to run with her and encourage her to finish. I didn't even know Maritza, but here I was running along side her, giving her a major pep talk, and just being supportive. That to me was such a realization that running is more than just running, its a dedication in your life to achieve something greater than most people ever get to experience. You're pushing your body to its maximum and achieving such an incredible goal. It made me realize that running is a sport that you do individually, pushing and competing against yourself, but it's also about being supportive, finding friendship and experiencing this amazing achievement with people who know EXACTLY what you're going through.

I later met Julianne and I swear, our whole group was just love at first sight! We had a million things in common and can relate to each other through our passion for running. I hope we can share some of that passion here on this blog, and encourage others to do the same. I am looking forward to all our runs in 2009 and in the years to come. Go ROHOs!!!!

6 comments:

Julianne said...

Awwww... you're so sweet! I'm looking forward to our running adventures in 2009, too!

Marathon Maritza said...

I can't even tell you how much it meant to me to have you and Aron cheering me along at Nike. I agree, we didn't even know each other then, but it meant so very much to me and it was much needed at the cold 25 mile-marker. :) Love at first sight!

jen said...

Your description of seeing Maritza at the marathon says it all- it really shows that all of us runners have a strong connection before we even meet! We all really depend on each other and I'm glad a strong woman like you is part of this. :)

Ok my goal of 2009 is to meet you Kristin. You are the only RoHo that I DoNo! (laaaaame)

Anonymous said...

If we had only know each other when we were in Chico! That might have been a little too much trouble though! haha So glad we got to do out very 1st marathon together and looking forward to many more to come!!!

Aron said...

i love the love at first site - soo true! i am so happy and glad that we all got to meet... how would we have survived TTES without each other?? cant wait for MANY more memories!

Alisa said...

I love these posts! It is sooooooo true that running has so many emotions. I wish I was closer so I could be a ROHO too =).