Newb Variance Question

Hey. $2/4 Party. For 50,000 hands I could do no wrong it seemed. At 50K my BB/100 was just below 2. Then, for the next 12,000 hands I'm about break-even, and my BB/100 is like 0.6 or something. Because I'm pretty new to poker I've never had such a dramatic shift in fortune. I say "dramatic" not because I think 12,000 hands is all that many, but just because the way the game plays when you're running bad vs. running good. I mean, I had day after day of winning no less than 25BB and had but a handful of losing sessions for the entire 50K hands. Since then, I'm lucky to even get on the board. Crazy.

Just wanted to get some thoughts from the vets here about how long such a 'downswing' can last.

I know some of you will want to flame me here for such a newb p.o.v. but some thoughtful feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.