Last October Dee and I stood on the sidewalk across from the CBC building in Halifax and cheered on our friend Emily in the CIBC Run for the Cure. I had started running the week before, and wasn't even able to huff and puff my way past jogging for about ten minutes in two minute intervals, but as everyone waved and yelled encouraging words, I decided that next year I would be one of the runners decked out in pink. I wanted a number to pin on the front of my T-shirt, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could run 5K without dying. And of course, raising money for cancer research would be great too.

Yesterday, after a year in which I wimped out of running during the winter because it was too cold and icy outside and struggled to get out of the house on days when I just wanted to curl up on the couch, I did it. It was a crisp, sunny morning. I was exhausted because I had gone to a birthday celebration the night before and accidentally gotten quite tipsy. Some people pushed strollers; some people ran with their dogs. There were three different bands playing along the route, and everyone was excited to be there. Annie and Liam finished before me, but I did it! As a member of the Librarians Run for the Cure team, I ran 5K. And my number was 7660.

Next up: the Salvation Army's Santa Shuffle in December. I hear people run wearing Santa hats and jingle bells…