Welcome to Little Runner Em!

I'm so excited to finally have started my very own running blog! After years of following other fantastic bloggers, I have been telling myself to start one of my own. I've always pushed the idea aside, assuming it wouldn't go anywhere, but now I believe I am ready to take the jump into blogging! There are so many thoughts, tips, and ideas swimming around in my head that I would really love to just get out there to fellow runners and here is my opportunity!

Who am I?

For those of you who don't know me already, my name is Emily and I go by @LittleRunnerEm on Instagram. Insta is where I post snapshots of my running life (and sometimes my personal life) and now I'm eager to be able to elaborate on my running life and thoughts through my blog posts. I'm a twenty-something year old runner from New Jersey who doesn't have much of a "story" of how I became the runner I am today. Every runner has a story. Where they began, who inspired them, what personal goals they had. Sadly, my story is nothing exciting. 

My Story

I was never very athletic in high school except for being a member of the marching band. I am always quick to defend the argument that marching band IS in fact a sport. While I may not have spent my days running laps and competing in games, I spent my days marching around a field in all weather conditions and competing at competitions. I can thank marching band for my muscular calves and strong upper body that have been a HUGE contribution to my running.

In May of 2013, my sister convinced me to begin training with her for a 5k. A mutual friend of ours volunteered to basically coach us through the training since we really didn't have much of an idea of what to do. I was shocked when our first run of this training was a WHOLE 1 mile. I thought I was going to die. Before now, my extent of running was the mile run in school, which I basically walk/ran and was happy to finish in under 14 minutes. My body was surely in shock as I continued on with running anywhere from a mile to three until that September rolled around and we ran our first 5k over in Philadelphia.

My first 5k, The Four Seasons Parkway Run & Walk, with my sister, Ashley! 

All it took was one 5k to get me hooked on running!  Next thing you know, I was running a different 5k every couple weeks, striving to beat my last time. After a couple months, my sister and I signed up for the Philadelphia Broad Street 10-miler in May 2014. This would be my first long distance run and I was both scared and excited!

Broad Street was unlike any race I had ran. The support along the way was phenomenal! I was proud of myself for staying strong over a course of 10 miles. I never thought I'd say it, but I LOVED running long distance! I enjoyed running for an extended amount of time. It gave me a chance to think and really soak in the world around me. All it took was one year for me to go from training to my first 5k to long distance running.

My first half marathon, The Hershey Half!

From here, I went on to run my first half marathon about 5 months later. I decided at this moment that the half was my favorite distance. Not too short but not too long. Just right. 

Ashley and I conquered our first marathon together, the Philadelphia Marathon!

After much convincing by my sister, I decided to run my first marathon in November 2015: the Philadelphia Marathon. Training was tough and the marathon was tougher, but I loved it! Knowing that my legs could carry me for 26.2 miles was exhilarating! It took me another 2 years to build up the courage to run this marathon again in November 2017. Once again, I loved it!

My second marathon and second time running the Philadelphia Marathon.

Fast forward to now. I have run a total of 2 full marathons, 5 half marathons, 4 10-milers, and over 25 other distance races. I still would choose the half as my favorite distance. I could go on for days about all the races I've ran and how each and every one of those races contributed to my love of running, but then this post would be extremely long. I'll save those stories for other posts in the future :)

Like I said earlier, my intention for this blog is to elaborate on my running life that I share on Instagram, while also sharing my thoughts, tips, and ideas related to running. My goal is to eventually have a well-known running blog but I suppose that will take some time to work up to :) For now, I hope you all enjoy what I have to say!

Question of the Day: Tell me about yourself! Do you have an Instagram? If so, leave it in a comment so I can check it out!