Running Meme

I saw this running meme ages ago but never posted, so I thought I'd resurrect it now. You are supposed to tag other bloggers to do it too, but I will skip that part. Feel free to post it in your own blog and leave me a comment telling me you did it too and I'll check it out.

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?

None existent. I was in my 3rd year of college and the extend of my physical activity was swing dancing. I was an avid dancer at the time, so it was a pretty good workout, but not long after I fell off the dancing scene and barely do it any more. I want to try getting back into it at least occasionally but more than once a year =P

2. What is your best/worst running experience?

Best - It's hard to choose just one, because I really love running and have mostly positive experiences, but I'll choose a few of my favorites:

1. finishing my first half marathon - even though I had already run the distance in training, it was still special and a very emotional time for me because I exceeded my expectations of what I'd be able to do on race day.
2. my last marathon training run - I felt really strong the entire run and was able to pick up the speed at the end. Running the last mile of that training run faster than the other 23 really gave me the boost I needed to tackle my upcoming marathon.
3. most galloway group runs - I love long runs and my group makes the time fly. They are the only ones that truly understand me and share my running philosophy and where I feel like I belong.
4. 1st one hour run - it was just awesome an awesome accomplishment that was easier than I thought it would be.

Not all runs have been blissful, but I think I'll leave those in the past and focus on the positive :)

3. Why do you run?

I run because it makes me feel good.
I run because it gives me a sense of accomplishments.
I run because it opened the door to a whole new world.
I run because it shrinks the world -- distances seem closer when you know you can cover it on foot and bonds are formed almost instantly with strangers that are also runners.
I run because I can.

4. What is the best or worst piece of running advice that you've been given about running

The best advice is to start slow and build up gradually. I think this is true in training and as a race pace strategy. The worse advice would be the opposite of that =P

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.

I'm an open book, so I'm really not sure what to write here.