Running

I want to preface this post by saying that I AM NOT A RUNNER. I never have been. I've always hated running. My theory was that if it wasn't necessary to run, there was just no need for it. It's way too hard! And I resisted it for years. Even when my husband would suggest a little jog, I'd just give him a "look" and scoff at the idea. You've GOT to be kidding.

Fast forward to today - I just ran 45 minutes (almost 4 miles) without stopping. It's no marathon, it was my personal best! EVER in my life!

It all started about 4 months ago, after chatting with an old high school buddy on Facebook. He told me that he had recently dropped 30 pounds. Well of course I wanted to know How? His simple answer was: (you guessed it) Running. My response: Noooooooo. I really was hoping you wouldn't say that. It's the one thing I haven't tried and I. Don't. Wanna! Hey, at least I'm mature about it.

But that very same week I decided to just go for it. For my first run, I think I made it all the way around the block. As soon as I stopped, my calves were ON FIRE. Like I could barely walk. Holy crap, it was so hard. But I was interested to see how long I could keep it going. So every other day, I added a little more distance. Until I was running about a mile and 1/2. Surprisingly, after 10 years of NOT running, it only took me about a month to get up to that point.

But then I was stuck. I couldn't seem to push past that distance. Once in a blue moon, I'd have a good day where I could go almost 2 miles, but it was really rough most of the time.

So I started the Couch to 10K program (there's an app for that) and so far it's been going really well. I'm in week 8 of the 13 week program and it's really helped me build up my tolerance for running. My workouts are 3 times a week and about an hour long. It takes a lot more time than my little mile and 1/2 used to, but I'm actually enjoying it. Some days I really lack the motivation, but I keep thinking about where I started and how far I've come. I don't want to go back to the beginning when it was so hard. (Don't get me wrong, it's STILL hard, but not AS hard.) So that gets me out the door.

Unfortunately, the weight hasn't fallen off like I hoped it would, but that's just a battle I don't know will ever be won. So for now, the focus is being healthy. That's the most important thing right????! So I'll keep exercising, eating better and... feeling pretty darn good, I guess! And major props to the true runners out there. When I see that a friend has been training for a marathon or someone ran 6 miles for fun, it totally pumps me up. Maybe that'll be me someday!