clarity happens during work outs.... it must.

Recently there are girls at my DH work that are inspired by me. It has gotten to me a little b/c I guess I don't really see myself as an athlete, at least I didn't before. Today I had the pleasure of taking the 16 mile bike ride to my DH work and having a picnic supper with him. Those girls were there today and totally impressed with my grit and determination. Maybe it shouldn't but it felt great to be lifted by their comments. Maybe I'm just too hard on myself and I should celebrate and respect every mile more so I can lift myself more. I mean who rides 16 miles on hump day? an athlete does that's who!!! who else will get out there in the rain, snow, wind and heat to get their daily dose of sweat? An athlete that's who... and you know what that's ME!!!!!
During my ride I'm watching people in thier cars, you can see the reaction, some are thinking it's cool for me to be out there, some are giving you enough room and totally aware of you and there are always the one or two who think you have no right to be on thier road. But it made me think.... "sane" people don't need to bike 16 miles. "sane" people don't have the DESIRE to run 26.2 or 13.1 or even a 5k. "Sane" people don't want to push their limits.
So I guess I realized for me, what makes me such an adrenaline junkie and i love it! And this week I realized that this is not a passing fad for me. I am a runner. I want to run for the rest of my life. I can't even imagine how my life would be right now had I not tied up those laces last spring and said what the heck...