October 16th: the date I've been working towards since the beginning of May this year. It's the date of the Columbus Half Marathon, starting at 7:30 in morning (yes, I know I'm crazy, I don't need a reminder). I've completed four half marathons before, but there's something about this time around that just feels different.

At the beginning of the summer, running once again became my outlet for stress and anxiety. If I felt a sense of panic starting to overwhelm me, I immediately put on my beloved Adidas Ultra Boost and hit the road. The feeling of my feet hitting the pavement of the Olentangy River Trail was my only sanctuary for a long time, allowing my mind to escape all of the pain that plagued me for months.

At first, I wasn't planning on competing in another distance race this year. After injuring my knee in last year's half marathon, I told myself it was in the best interest for my physical health to take time off from distance running, sticking to shorter distances of simply a couple miles. But as I started getting into a rhythm of running every day when the summer began, it became apparent to me that my addiction was quickly resurfacing. My mileage started increasing, my pace started getting faster, and my endurance was getting stronger at a pace that surprised even myself.

I decided that to keep myself motivated, and to prove to myself that I could be stronger than ever, I would sign up for my fifth half marathon to date. I found a training plan that was more challenging than anything I've ever done, pushing myself to limits that I didn't think were possible. I've never been the fastest runner out there, but it became apparent to me that I was no longer satisfied with the ordinary: if I wanted to continue to improve, both mentally and physically, I needed to go after something that I previously thought was impossible.

And so I set my goal at completing the race in less than 100 minutes, something I've never done. My personal record is 105 minutes, which I set in the very first half marathon I completed back in 2013. Since then, my times have gotten progressively worse as I took running less and less seriously.

But this time around, I've never felt more focused. Each run I go on feels stronger and stronger. I physically look stronger, I'm mentally stronger, and I'm back to loving the sport like I did in high school. It sounds cliché, but running literally saved my life. It gave me a purpose when I thought I didn't have one, and I've been eagerly awaiting this race to prove to myself that I am strong enough to do anything that I set my mind to.

If you're in the area, and you're willing to wake up before the sun rises, come to downtown Columbus for the race. It's an experience I'm sure you won't forget, and you'll likely never see me as happy as I will be when I crush my goal, once and for all.