"Yeah."

This past Sunday, some of our neighbors organized a kindergarten mixer for all the kids starting kindergarten in the fall. It was a great opportunity for my middle runlet to meet some new friends and for Runner Boy and I to mingle with their parents. When I was talking to one of the moms, she asked where we live. I told her the street name and she asked me to describe my house. She said the street is on most of her running routes (!) and she probably has passed our place many times. Of course I jumped on the running topic immediately.

Me: So you're a runner?!?

Her: Not really. I'm trying to become one though. I trained for a half marathon while my husband was training for a full marathon last fall.

Me (to her husband): What marathon did you run?

Him: Memphis.

Me: Ooh, that sounds flat. Was it?

Him: Yup, it was pretty flat. So you must be a runner?

Me: Yeah.

Yadda, yadda, yadda from there. But, and this is huge, I had just nonchalantly confirmed that I'm a runner! When I first started this blog almost two years ago, I remember feeling like a poser and hoping that one day I could actually consider myself a "real" runner. I guess all those miles in between have changed me more than I realize. Yeah, I AM a runner.

Back in the saddle...

Woah--I've just spent some time catching up with all the ol' running blogs I used to read. It's a new world out there! I guess I have to figure out the whole giveaway thing. That seems like the "it" trend.

A quick update for anyone interested: Cleveland screwed up my foot bad enough that I ended up taking eight loooong months off from running. The upside is that I discovered I actually like weightlifting. And my gym membership got more action in those months than it did in the past eight years.

I got the official green light to start running again this past January. Like any good runner, I promptly signed up for a race as soon as I got home from the podiatrist's office. I figured a little 10-miler would be doable and I had six months to train. Long story short...I ran the 10 miler last weekend and a 5k yesterday.

There are still lingering foot issues that the good doc and I are working diligently to resolve, but boy does it feel good to be back!