Sooo, from the start

Well well, here it goes... My running adventure began about 6 years ago. I was going to college full time and taking care of 2 kids and a hubby. During this time I had gained weight and thought holy cow, how did this happen? So the next semester I decided to take kick boxing, what the hell was I thinking? It killed me for about 2 months until I stopped. Yes I failed college kick boxing. Sad I know. Well I was also dealing with the sickness and then death of my grandfather. It was so hard and I was so angry. I needed an outlet but not from the pain of losing him but from the weight. I had heard a ton about couch to 5k. I said I am going to do this, sounded easy enough,lol, and off I started. Well screw me upside down. I never knew how hard and technical and MENTAL running was. Well, I continued on with doing it. Stopping and starting over and over again. Long story short, I completely stopped running. I didn't love it at all, I hated it and I WAS DONE!!! Then something inside started to creep up on me about running. I was that girl in the car, staring at runners and thinking " gosh I wish I could just do it". Then go back to eating cookies and take out and then seeing a chick run and thinking the same thing.. I just wanted to run and be athletic. I wanted to be toned and just happy with my body as a woman. Well in 2011 we moved 18 hours away to beautiful Charleston, SC where there are like 50 beaches around us. We moved here and everyone one I knew was running. I started following a friend of mine in Savannah and her running quest and thought shit I am going to start Jan 1st 2012 of running. I started with couch to 5k again, running in my garage on my treadmill. I HATE THAT MACHINE. But it got me to a point where I was enjoying the run and after about 2 months I could see the results. I now had managed to get my first pair of "real running shoes". Boy I was a runner in my mind then. My hatred for the treadmill lead me to start running outside. HATED IT. I just hated it until I ran 6 miles in over a hour and like 20 mins. I kept watching my Savannah friend and thinking damn that bitch is AMAZING. I strive to be like her. She was then my new motivation. After about 6 months of running/walking I really started to think wow OK I am reading some awesome motivation here and one stuck out about stop being in a competition with other runners. That was huge. I compared myself to other runners who had been running for years. I only 6 months. I wanted to become better and I wanted to be able to run without walking. It was a huge goal of not stopping when I was tired, sweating,thirsty, in pain. I needed to push forward. I read an article about heart rate training, I started doing just that. I read about the training, the pros the cons. What my resting HR should be, what my race pace HR should be and what my long run HR should be. I remember I couldn't run more than 2.5 miles without walking. I was going to fast too soon. I had to retrain myself on how to run. I sought after running forums, blogs and other motivations. So I headed out to change my running. I can tell you that once I hit running 6 miles without walking was FREAKING huge. I cried, it was such a goal that I deeply wanted to reach and that I did. I hit a lot of road blocks, walls and mental fatigue. BUT I started to LOVE running. I at the moment knew I could and would stick with it. I ran my first 5k at 27:28 and it was glorious. I still to this day do HR training, I love it, I know my body. I know when I am exerting to much energy by my HR and I have terrible runs sometimes where I still might have to stop for about 2 mins, but then the next day I can do 12 miles without walking. I just finished my first half with my buddy from Sav. I ran the whole 13.1 miles, well according to Garmin 13.29 in 2:04.06 and I couldn't have been more proud of myself. I wept like a blabbering baby. I cant wait to do more, and maybe a full. I NEVER thought I could do this whole running thing. It was a year in January and I have no plans of quitting. I run 4 days a week and I stick to that schedule. Its important to find what works for you to get your run in. Please remember, once you get past the mental game, it becomes something you crave, you need, you look forward to. At least for me it isn't a outlet for losing weight, it's an outlet from life. For those 45 mins, 1 hour or some days hours lol, I am in my own zone. As soon as my garmin gets started its like a switch in my head and I leave that body and become my runner, my runner meaning I become the runner I want to be that day, that moment of clarity, that moment of kick ass music and peace. Then world is quiet, the mind is silent and that's when I know I am ready to go...