When I first got to Australia, I immediately looked up gym memberships.

Gym memberships can get kind of expensive, especially when you currently have no source of income. I was a bit of a group fitness class addict at home, but here, it wasn’t going to happen. Not at these prices!

I have a Danish friend here who is maximally fit. She’s a lifeguard. She does all sorts of adventure sports. And she runs. Seeing my predicament, she decided to ask me to go running with her.

I had to stay in shape somehow. I reluctantly agreed to go running.

But it seemed as though all my gym-going back in the States had paid off.

And that’s how we became running buddies.

A picture I drew for her in class. Because drawing > developmental genetics

My friend is a hardcore sporty girl, though. Running casually wasn’t enough.

In order to do a half-marathon, she had to train. And as she trained, she sneakily started to make our runs longer and longer.

As much as I hate running, though, there’s something satisfying about being able to run longer and longer. We started at 5, then 7, then 10, and finally…

Here’s a photo we took at the Opera House! Yeah…. I’m short.

I didn’t always run with my friend, though. She continued to run greater and greater distances in preparation for her half-marathon, distances that I couldn’t keep up with. Finally, the day of her half-marathon rolled around.

So, at an ungodly hour of the morning, my friend and I traveled to Sydney Olympic Park.

The race began, and my friend took off.

An hour later, she was still going strong…

…and kept going…

…until she crossed the finish line.

It was awe-inspiring to see all these runners push themselves to the maximum, especially since one of them was my friend. I’ve always thought of runners as almost another breed of people. Runners are unobtainable. Runners are people who are more fit and motivated than I will ever be. I’ve never thought that I’d be a runner. But really, runners are just like anyone else. My friend wasn’t born with the ability to run; she had to put time and effort into her training. And so, when I saw my friend’s victorious face…

I couldn’t help but think:

I haven’t been able to get it off my mind. I want to do it. I COULD do it… right? If only I could stay motivated when I got home.

But it seems like I’m the only crazy one.

Still, I have promised myself that I will run a half-marathon when I get back to Boston. Do you think I could do it?

Which is why I’m writing this now. Remember this well, readers, and hold me up to this promise: I, Vy, will train for and complete a half-marathon in 2014. Yes. It’s going to happen. I’LL MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Maybe I’ve just finally gone off the deep end.