The Day I Started Running

The day I started running was not very glamorous.  In fact, it was rather pathetic.  I had always harbored this desire to be a runner, but I buried it deep down under my hatred for breathing so hard my lungs hurt.  It was an issue that plagued me in high school.  That, paired with my heat intolerance, I simply never thought I could be one of those cute girls with the happy shoes trotting along the side of the road with bouncing pony tails. 

After I turned 25, this weird thing happened to my metabolism.  That weird thing was that it went on strike and would no longer support my pasta addiction.  Nor my love of overeating an entire cookie sheet of nachos.  So rude.  Naturally I gained a little bit of weight, and it became uncomfortable being around people.  One night, I was watching this show on MTV, something like “I used to be fat” or an alternate title.  The show featured a new teenager every episode that worked out really hard, changed their diet, and lost like a million pounds.  I love work out shows, and I still watch The Biggest Loser religiously (hello nutrition geek).  This one particular kid inspired me so much that I dug out my old tennis shoes from the depths of my closet and laced them up.  For some reason I had a sports bra in my drawer so I put that on too.  At the time I lived in my own apartment, and since I was too embarrassed to jiggle around the neighborhood, I just lightly jogged the 15 feet from the front door to the end of the hallway.  Back and forth.  For 30 minutes.  The TV was on the whole time so I was kind of watching it while I jogged, which was distracting and made me feel less silly. 

The best part was that I never stopped jogging for the full 30 minutes, which was kind of a big deal at the time.  Before this I had never run more then 5 minutes without stopping for breath.  I was so proud of myself that the next day I walked straight up to one of my favorite co-workers, who ran all the time, and asked her to go running with me that evening.  Outside.  In public.  She agreed, and my addiction officially began.

Fast forward 8 months, my dad and I completed our first half marathon. I lost the extra weight, was feeling great, and have officially become the runner girl I have always wanted to be! I never before thought I could run long distances, and I’m still not very fast, but at least now I know that I can do anything as long as I’m willing to work for it.  And you can too!

XOXO, Cristen