Endings bring new beginnings.

This past weekend was one full of profound endings, however, it also opened way for the possibility of new beginnings.

Through the cold and rain that was yesterday morning, I accomplished one of my greatest feats thus far - my first half marathon. This great accomplishment was the climax of months of training, however, it also brought with it the feeling of something new, that I am about to embark on a new beginning, a fresh chapter in my life. While I may have been training seriously for the past four months, my journey towards the finish line began almost two years ago when I took up running as a way to re-gain the emotional strength I had lost at the hands of someone else. With all emotional strength gone and little hope to gain it back, I decided to pursue a new course and focus on developing my physical strength instead.

Little did I know, but that quest to build muscle and stamina in an effort to fool myself back into confidence was far more successful than I ever could have imagined. In addition to eventually building up my endurance to do a half marathon, I also gained a surprising new sense of confidence that came from over coming what I once thought to be impossible.

As someone who has never been considered my others or herself as an athlete, becoming a "runner" took more effort than simply putting on my running shoes and heading out the door. I was also forced to shed some old attitude and delve deep into the psyche of the runner - which is more than half the battle when it comes to sticking to a regular running regime. Through my determined efforts to build my strength, I became accustomed to the amazing doses of positive energy that I would always return home with. No matter the emotional pain I was experiencing before hand, or the distance that I was able to traverse, as long as I gave 110% and accomplished what I had set out to do, there was nothing that prevented me from feeling better about myself.

Slowly but surely, I saw the improvements - both physically and mentally. My distance increased, as did my speed, but more importantly so did my attitude towards the act at hand. Rather than viewing running simply as a tool to get in or stay in shape, or a way to feel a little less guilty about all those beers I was consuming, running started to take a more permanent place in my life - part of my weekly routine.

Next to the weekly doses of professional therapy I was receiving at the time, running became my own sort of therapy. A safe place I could always go to and shed the negative energy that was weighing down my soul. At my lowest point, there was little that any of my friends or family could do to bring me back up out of despair, but somehow, I always found the strength to pound the pavement. These brief moments of physical relief became my sanctuary that I turned to when I just needed to be alone. Alone and free outside of my existence. Apart, yet fully engulfed by life and the euphoric feeling that I could, with time overcome.

Yesterday, with less than 3km to go, when my legs were throbbing unforgivably, and my ankle felt as thought it was going to collapse any minute, I remembered why - what had brought me to that place of pain in the first place. All those emotions, all that emotional pain - scarred over, but forever with me - that I had managed to overcome, and through that painful nostalgia, I found the strength to carry on. Flooded with emotion, I pushed ahead, 2km, then 1km to go I remembered how far I had come, and how far I had yet to go. With these thoughts in front of my, I pursued the finish line with every once of strength in my body, and with these thoughts I crossed the finish line with an incredibly sense of pride.

I have come a long way and I found the strength to cross the finish line from within. Yesterday was not just the end of a race, it was the end up something much more. That finish line - my first finish line - drew an imaginary divide between my life now and my life then. Then has passed, you are gone and I am stronger for it. Now is the time to look forward to a future based on personal strength, determination and courage to face all that I do not know. Now is the time to look towards new beginnings.

I can already see my next finish line.