BHAGS and other things...

Back when I was a student at ORU, I learned the principle of the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG).  In the past, my BHAGs have been things such as: Graduating from high school and college, getting my private pilot's license, and getting a job after college. They were all inevitable - Things that were going to happen one way or another.  This year, I decided to set a BHAG that was in no way expected...by myself or anyone else!A few months ago, my cousin Matt asked me if I would be interested in running the Chicago half marathon with him and Team World Vision.  Given the state of life that I was in, I said, "Sure!  Why not?" (As one of my good friends stated later, saying "Sure, why not?" is not an appropriate response for running a half marathon.)  So the training began.  I found out pretty quickly that I would be running solo for the half marathon, as Matt quickly fell into running 7:30-8:30 minute miles, and I was simply exhilarated to run a 10:30.  We did do one race together before the half marathon.On July 21, we ran the Muddy Buddy race, which was SO FUN!  It consisted of a 4.5 mile course and 12 obstacles, two of which were mud pits.Was this practical training for the half marathon?  Well...no...but it was super awesome :)So, over the past few months, I've been training to run the biggest physical goal of my life so far - running a gruesome 13.1 miles.  It was by no means easy or fun all of the time...but in retrospect, I am glad I did it!I was so honored to be able to finish the race in the presence of some of my biggest fans - My parents, my aunt and uncle, and the Kelley family.  But I am also extremely grateful to everyone who supported me along the way through liking my posts when I went out to run, encouraging me to keep going, and letting me know that you believed in me.Thanks for helping me accomplish this BHAG!  Now...onto the next one!  Danskin Women's Triathlon next August with Kristen Egan!