The Twenty-Fifth Year

Welcome to Day One of the 25th year of my life.

Well, not exactly. I actually turned 25 on Saturday. I needed a few days to let it sink in before I could start writing about it because I made a pretty major decision on how I wanted to “ring in” the celebration of becoming a quarter centurion.

Let’s back it up a bit, shall we?

I think most of us would come to some sort of agreement that there are certain birthdays we hold to be a bit more special than the others. They render a cause for celebration beyond a cake and some cards. In adulthood – and in America – 21 is probably one of the few most people actually look forward to (and don’t remember). Once we start approaching the decades that follow, the excitement seems to fizzle. However, 25 is still a somewhat pleasant monumental year. It marks the half way point between the newness of your twenties and the fully embracing your twenties. You can rent a car and pay less for your insurance. You’re looked at as a bit more responsible than 21, 22, 23, 24, but not quite to the settled down 26, 27, 28, 29. Maybe that’s why I decided to switch gears this September.

Don’t get me wrong – my last four birthdays were a blast, and no doubt layered with big nights out on the town and the obligitory rounds of drinks. But this year, I wanted it to be different. So I decided to do something I had never done (nor wanted to do): run a 5K race.

I drew inspiration from two blogs I read religiously: Eat Live Run and Healthy Tipping Point. These two bloggers post daily about the food they eat, fitness and just life in general. They, too, are in their 20s and I find them both to be such an inspiration to myself as a fellow writer. I’ve been following them for somewhere around a year now and I’ve picked up lots of great tips, shared them with friends and family and made some changes of my own. After reading day in and day out, I felt compelled to follow in thier footsteps (literally) and make the commitment to train for a race. Fate just happened to step in with a race the day after my 25th and about seven weeks ago I registered to run the 3.1 mile distance.

The weeks that followed were both rewarding and grueling. Not only was I faced with  training, but some I endured some serious events like my parents moving a thousand miles away to Texas and a series of ER and doctor visits for an abscessed tooth.

While I won’t get into the details just yet (tomorrow!) I will tell you this: the human body is amazing. Simply put, I transformed my mind, my spirit and what I thought were my capabilities within a matter of weeks.

Over the next year, I plan to continue this transformation. This blog will serve as a testament to where the 25th year takes me. Hope you’re ready!