My Journey

Hello and welcome to my very first blog post!  I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences.

A couple of years ago I really started thinking about running.  I used to run in high school and college, and even a little afterwards, but that had been a long time ago.  One of my friends kept inviting me to run with her, and she was always talking about how much fun the races were.  I kept turning her down.  One day I just decided I would go try.  I was so out of shape that it was miserable!  I don’t know what clicked inside of me, but I was determined to become a runner.  I was tired of just coming home from work and sitting around all night.  I started running several days a week.  But, by running, I mean jogging and mostly walking at first.  I tried the couch to 5K app, and I didn’t really like it.  So, I just started pushing myself to run to the next mailbox, or the next, or to the end of the road, and so on.  I would set little goals for myself and I would push to meet them.  I kept doing this until I was seeing that I was going further without stopping.  I don’t know how long it took me, but one day I could actually run 3 miles without stopping.  My friend got me to sign up for a race with her.  She was so excited, my husband was so excited, and my family was so excited.  I was terrified!  I was so self-conscious that I didn’t want to run where anyone could see me.  I had only been running on a side road by my house.  There wasn’t ever anyone outside, so it didn’t bother me.  But, to run where people could actually look at me scared me.   I guess I was worried that if I had to stop and walk that someone might see me and judge me?!  I don’t know, it’s ridiculous, but it’s really what I thought.

So, I ran the race and I did AWFUL! The absolute worst time that I have ever had. (somewhere around 35 mins) I know I should be proud that I actually finished it, and I am.  But, I was so embarrassed by my time.  I knew I could do better, and it made me more determined to try harder.  I started pushing myself harder, and running more.  I made myself run at least 5 days a week, and I even started running some with my friend.  But, I was so afraid that if I had a bad run, I would cause her to have one too.  I know that was silly, and that it was more about just being together than running.  The next month, I ran another race and I ROCKED it!  I was so proud of myself.  I finished in 27:08.  After this, I was addicted.  I loved the feeling of accomplishment that I got after finishing a race.

My first race – it was a 4th of July race

I still kept running 5k’s with my friend, but I also started adding more miles in my daily runs.  This helped me to start making healthier choices with food.  I started listening to my body and realizing that I can’t eat a hamburger and fries at lunch and then try to run 5-6 miles that afternoon. I also realized that it didn’t do me any good to get up and run several miles and then go eat a huge meal afterwards.  I also started drinking a ton more water.  I started to feel better, and my runs were actually becoming easier.

This has been a long journey for me, but one that I am proud of.  Anytime I start to feel down or not very motivated to run, I think about how far I’ve come.  In the next posts, I will share more about my running adventures in the last couple of years.