Corps, Corps, Nothin' but the Corps!

Okay, that is not an official AmeriCorps cheer, but when my friend Ali's friend Richard heard that AmeriCorps*NCCC has a pledge (not a cheer), he assumed it sounded something like that.

So why the reference to the incorrect cheer that brings me back to my days of glory?

Because, people, it's...

and I've decided to participate. The reason for flashing back to AmeriCorps*NCCC specifically is that this is a running blog, and AmeriCorps is where the love affair began.

I always knew I wanted to do a year of service after graduating college and I was pumped to start AmeriCorps in California. The program is amazing and was absolutely the best year of my life.

However.

I knew that part of the program was PT and to be placed in a group, each corps member would be tested on push-ups, sit-ups, and running a mile and a half. A mile and a half! It may as well have been a million.

The last time I had run a mile was in gym class senior year and I'm sure it took me an embarrassingly long time. I had never run a mile and a half. Running equaled difficulty breathing and humiliation in my life.

But.

I am competitive.

Always have been.

So I decided I would start running so I would NOT be in the lowest group. My first run was with my dad, who (unknowingly) tricked me into doing 2 miles instead of 1, and the whole time I thought I hate this, I hate this. As I continued to run, the words slowly changed to just keep running, just keep running and eventually faded away all together.

I was hooked.

I don't remember how long it took me to finish the mile and a half during the test, but I know it was enough to put me in the second fastest group. Whew.

We ran every morning at 5:30 during training. I fell in love.

By the end of the year I had completed my first 10K and I had fallen in love with so many other things. My team. My friends. Sacramento. Portland. Hawaii. San Francisco. Kids. Trees. Trails. Early mornings. Late nights. Subway sandwiches. Sore bodies. Billy Billy Bop.

Here's my team: Blue 7. The Superfreaks.

We dressed like this to go to the movie theaters

We played lots of silly games

We created still lifes (Santa on a sleigh with his reindeer, of course)



We learned how to hula at a Senior center

We saved a lot of cars from the mud (mostly our own)

And so much more.

Thank you Blue 7, thank you Team Friends, and thank you AmeriCorps for giving my such an amazing year, bringing out my love of running, and developing my passion for service.