About a month ago, an innocent conversation turned into a dare. While indulging in sushi happy hour, my fabulous photographer friend Gina of Zeidler Photography challenged me to run the Twin Cities 1 Mile Race with her. The problem? I don't run. I've never been a runner. I tried track for 1 season in the 8th grade and that was IT! I've never run a race in my life and no-no-no I do not run.

However, later that night I was thinking about how much I hated how close-minded I was about doing it - it was only a mile, right? So, I decided to step up to the challenge! I started trying to run 1 mile a day and it was HARD! My body hated me and my joints ached, but I knew I could do it.

Yesterday was the day. Now, 1 mile seems like nothing, right? Piece of cake...YEAH. RIGHT! I'm not going to lie, the last 1/4 mile, I thought I was going to have a heart attack! Yet, I must say that I am VERY proud to have done this race, as little as 1 mile seems! Our official time was 9 minutes, 15 seconds (yeah, I know you probably ran that in 5th grade), but while training, I was running a 12 minute mile, so this is a whole 3 minutes off! No wonder I felt like having a heart attack!

The proof is below - notice how Gina is smiling, happy and breezing thru it - while I look like death is upon me! ;0)