Towards the end of my freshman year of college, I stumbled across a 'Buzzfeed' video while I was browsing YouTube. The video was about a woman who decided to train for a marathon in only TEN WEEKS. She was required to run and workout just about every single day, and she had to drastically change her diet in order to successfully run the race.

The video was extremely inspiring and amazing to watch. The best part of the video was seeing the 'before' and 'after' full body pictures to see how much the strenuous training affected her physique. When I say it was insane, I mean it. She did not necessarily lose a lot of weight, but she gained muscle and toned her body. For whatever reason, something sparked in me. I started googling different races near me, and how to train for beginners. I decided to be a little more realistic about what kind or race I wanted to run; so not 26.2 miles. Instead, I decided I was going to train for a half marathon; 13.1 miles.

I signed up for a race in that was going to take place in December, just a week before Christmas. Because I signed up for this race in June, I had plenty of time to train and get ready for this experience. Of course, having no running experience to begin with, the beginning of my training was the hardest thing I had ever done. After running one or two miles, I would be dripping in sweat and out of breath. At this point, I thought there would be no possible way I could do this. How do people do this all the time? I would wake up every single morning sore and exhausted.

However, I had already set my mind to tackling this challenge, so I knew I had to do it. Plus, I really wanted the free pullover! I would run and go to the gym six days out of the week over summer, no matter how tired or how busy I was. There were definitely bad and good days, but I continued to push myself. I remember when I was able to run four miles without stopping for the first time, and I was completely blown away with myself.

Once August hit, about two months into my training, I was starting to notice my body changing. My abs were starting to show and become really defined, and my calfs were more toned than I could even imagine. Not only did I notice this, but people around me were noticing as well. Pants that used to be a little snug on me were starting to fit me perfectly, and I was loving how I was looking in pictures.

It was time for me to go back to college at the end of August, and I knew I had to squeeze in time to train while having a busy school schedule. Instead of six days a week, I decided to try for four while I was at school. Some days, I would go and run on the treadmill at the gym. Other days, I would run outside on the hilly campus of Appalachian State. I knew that pushing myself to run up hills was going to benefit me for when I came back to run the race in Florida; a completely flat state.

Fast forward to December, after all my hard work and training, it was finally time to run the race. It could no have been a more perfect day in Florida. It was about 58 degrees, overcast, and with a slight breeze. My goal to finish the race was 2:30:00, and I ended up finishing in 2:25:00! It might only be five minutes better than what I thought, but that was a huge accomplishment to me.

If I would have never ran this half marathon, I would never be who I am in present day. I always go to the gym at lease four to six days a week, and I continue to run because I've realized this is what keeps me in the best shape. I'm so glad that I now have a large appreciation for not only running, but doing other high intensity workouts at the gym. Because of my newfound love for running, I've never been in better shape. I constantly feel energized, and I have a new type of confidence.

Anyone that knew me in high school, especially the people I played high school tennis with, would know that I hated running. I was awful at it, and I had trouble keeping up if we ever had to run before practices. However, I wish I would have decided to randomly train for a half marathon so much earlier. Running has kept me in the best shape of my life, and it's hard to think about how I despised running beforehand.

This just goes to show that ANYBODY could do this, even someone who hated running as much as me. Trust me, if I can do this, anybody can.