My Running Story

I am so excited to see that we're getting some comments and there are a few "followers" (Diane, Kathy, & Priscilla). "Follower" sounds a little odd, but that means you've made a decision to train for the 5K and that's GREAT!! Congratulations on your decision! Feel free to leave comments at the bottom (both for me & for each other).

A couple of weeks ago, we met at Panera and I told you how I first started running. For those of you who weren't there, here's my story:

I want you to know that this whole running thing did not come easy for me. As a matter of fact, out of all the runners I know, I don't think any of them would say it was easy for them either. That's the thing..it's hard for everyone so don't be discouraged when it's hard for you, too!

After college, I took a step aerobics class for many years. One night, our instructor told us she was running in the Freihofer's Run for Women. I remember thinking "wow"- I could never do that. She then said if we were fit enough for her class, then we should be able to run 3 miles just like her.

Hmmm.

Could that really be possible? Did she mean 3 miles all at once or over a few days? I wasn't quite sure, but either way, I thought she must be messing with us.

I don't remember exactly how I made the decision to try running (it was a long time ago - 1991), but I knew I wanted to give it a try.

On my first attempt, I remember standing at the end of my driveway and looking down the road to our street sign and thinking that must be at LEAST a 1/2 mile away, maybe more (I found out later it was less than 1/4 mile). My goal was to run until I got to that sign. I figured that should be pretty easy :-)

After running for what seemed like an eternity, (my actual time running was like 4 minutes) I finally made it to the sign. All I wanted to do was lie down on the side of the road and take a nap.

After I got up from my nap, I picked another sign and walked until I reached that point. Then, I'd start running again. A few minutes later, I'd be tired and have to take another nap. I was starting to get the hang of this....run, nap, walk, run, nap, walk.

And that's how it went. I did that for a long time. Each week I would run a little more, walk a little less. I was making progress. And, progress turned into confidence.

My point in telling you this is not to scare you. I'm telling you so you'll be encouraged. I basically did what I'm asking you to do. I won't lie, there will be times when you may feel like quitting or like it's too much. That's why I started this blog. So we can work through those times and encourage each other. It may not be easy some days, but I promise you, it will be worth the effort.

"Let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us."