Running

I love running, but I didn’t always used to. In fact, I didn’t get into running until I was in my late 20s. By that time in my life, I was overweight (and borderline obese). When I picked up running, for health reasons, I didn’t drop the weight right away. In fact, I had no clue what I was doing.

But I kept at it.

Eventually, I would start running with some friends from work. I motivated myself because I wanted to be able to keep up with them. I joined local races, and competing in those is what really transformed my running persona. Putting myself through a schedule of workouts provided me with much more insight in the how’s and why’s about running. I began to improve.

First, it was 5Ks, then 10Ks. Then, I made the effort to train for a half marathon. At that time, I thought that was my ceiling – but somehow, I ended up signing up for a marathon. My first marathon was a total bust and crashed with about 7 miles to go. However, I learned a lot and I didn’t give up.

I targeted to run my next marathon in 4 hours, and actually finished it in 3:48. By that time, my whole body and mind was transformed. All of a sudden, I start driving around town and thinking how long it would take me to run it – or just the fact that I can.

Unfortunately, running took a back seat after I nearly did not finish my 3rd marathon. I barely made it in 4 hours, but my goal was 3:30. I began to regain much of the weight that I lost over the years.

But, I’m back. I still love running. Running is not the challenge for me – it’s working it back into my life.