Becoming A Runner {Fitness Friday}

Literally, 17 years ago the desire to run was birthed in me. I had turned 30, and I wanted to run a marathon. I now see that was an incredibly loft goal. But the desire was there. I was never a runner. I hated the Physical Fitness test in grade school, do you remember those? I could do the standing long jump, but the 50 yard dash, ugh, I thought I would die!

The only time I really remember running, was when I was five, I was being chased by a Dalmatian at my friends house. He caught me and bit me right in the, well, you know. I’m sure I ran around as a kid, but I couldn’t run very far or very fast.

Fast forward, several children, pregnancies and weight changes. Off and on, over the years the desire was still there, but even walking for extended periods of time was challenging with foot pain and back pain. My family and I would joke about me being a runner, long before I EVER ran a step. I would see an iPod and say I needed one, because I was a runner, you know. We would laugh. Or, I bought a hoodie that had these strange holes at the bottom of the sleeve. At first, I thought I should take it back, until I realized they were for my thumbs, because I was a runner.  See, the signs were there all along. The last couple of years, there was such an this urge to take off out the door and run. It was so strange. Sometimes, I would open the door and run down the driveway, just to do it. Crazy.

This past winter, after an extremely frustrating day, I couldn’t contain it anymore, the anger, the stress. I grabbed my son and said, ‘let’s go run’. Um, okay? It was dark, snowy and cold. Oh, and mom has never run before. Sounds like a plan. We started walking and talking and I said, ‘let’s run’ and I took off like a shot. Well, not really like a shot, sort of a slow shuffle. He started running too, but quickly switched to a fast walk when he realized my “running” was equal to a brisk walk for him. We laughed so hard. It was a moment I will always treasure. I was running! It felt so good . . . for about 20 seconds. We repeated this scenario several times and I made it further down our road than I ever have on foot.

Something hooked me that night. The beauty of the falling snow. The dark and quiet of the night. The release of stress, exhausting muscles and lungs. I felt like I was dying and coming alive all in the same moment!

Next time, Training For A 5K (at 47, and overweight, and out of shape, and unable to run for more than 20 seconds, yeah, it was pretty!)