Have you ever had a moment when something just clicks? A true moment of clarity that appears out of nowhere and often when you didn't know you were looking for it in the first place? Such a thing happened to me over Memorial Day weekend.

Most of you know that I ran my first 10k last weekend. It was such an amazing experience and one that I can put down in the book of "I did it". Never did I imagine that the day would come that I would be writing about running 6 miles. Me, the girl who faked injuries in gym class just to get out of running one mile around the high school track. Sad but true. When I started running a little over a year ago it was at the encouragement of my dear friend Cass. She seemed to see something in me that I didn't know was there. The first time I went out with her she "made me" run 2 miles. It wasn't too long afterwards that I ran my first 5k. She ran it with me despite being 16 weeks pregnant. She ran for a good part of her pregnancy and was an inspiration to me and I'm sure a lot of other people as well. I ran through the winter and agreed to sign up for the Bayshore 10k despite the fact that I'm not much of a distance runner (6 miles is a fair distance if you ask me). It was right around mile 2 of this race that my moment of clarity hit me.

I was running next to my friend Kimber. She was pointing out some beautiful homes along the route that were for sale. She showed me one that was for rent and I commented on how cute it was. We ran along and chatted as though we were the only two on the course. I loved that first part of the race. It was during that time that I looked out at the Bay and said "Kimber, look at how beautiful that is. Aren't we so lucky to live here?". She agreed. It was such a nice moment. It was at that same moment that Cass sped by us on her quest to finish in under an hour. She was cruisin' and other than a quick hello seemed to be pretty focused on what she was doing. It hit me at that second how different we are in our reasons for running. She was out there on a mission; it was a race after all. She had trained for weeks following a pretty strict training schedule in order to finish with a certain time. Running was something that was really important to her. For her, it wasn't just a way to get some exercise, like it was for me, it was a part of her life. She actually likes running and looks forward to each time she laces up her shoes and pounds the pavement. I am out there to burn calories and listen to my otherwise forbidden music (hey, I have small children). She did a great job on Saturday and ran a personal best and I was very happy for her and proud of her. But part of my moment of clarity was realizing that even though she was the one to encourage me in the beginning, running wasn't going to be a hobby we would ultimately share together. It was always going to be about something more to her than it ever could be to me.

The mood and energy at the race on Saturday was amazing. It set a tone for the rest of the day. I was so happy to see the sweet faces of Peter and the kids cheering me on when I only had about 200 meters to go. I had run a good race. In my heart I knew I did the best I could do and despite a little "burp" scare that I thought might lead to something else, I felt great! My typical style is to kick it into high gear and high tail it to the finish line as soon as it is in sight but I didn't do that on Saturday. Maybe I was too tired. Or maybe I was just taking my time getting there and enjoying the energy around me for those last several seconds. Whatever the case, I was proud to be among several thousand runners there that day, regardless of what brought them there in the first place.

Post run stretch..I was still smiling..that's a good sign!

My little cheering section.

Kimber, Laura, Me, Cass

My lovely cousins, Linsey (in the green) and Jaime. They ran the half marathon and did awesome!