I was never a runner. To be honest, I'm still not. When I think of a runner, I think of someone who can run a 5K as a warmup, and then follow up with a briskly paced marathon. I am not that person.
Up until a couple of months ago, I couldn't run more than a few steps... and it was only in situations where my life depended on it. Not that I was ever in a life-threatening running scenario, but if I had been, I'd most likely have been dead where I stood.
I was a lazy 30-something. I failed to acknowledge that my metabolism from my 20's was slowing down, and that vacuuming and walking up one flight of stairs at the office weren't really adequate workouts. I could see in photos of myself that I was getting heavier. Then I started having mornings where I couldn't find anything to wear because nothing fit. Then I stepped on the scale...
...then I decided to run.
I downloaded some running apps, including a Couch to 5K one. I scanned through the various training runs over the 8-week span of the app and laughed to myself about how that is totally not going to ever happen for me. Run for a full 5 minute interval? Ha! Yeah, okay. I'll be lucky to not break a sweat tying my shoes.
It was a slow start. I aggravated an old injury in my knee pretty badly in the beginning, and had to rest it for what seemed like an eternity. After some recuperation, and getting fit for proper running shoes at Luke's Locker, I was back at it. I learned that I have Achilles' tendons that get really angry when I run, so my progress through the C25K app has been slow. I try to run every third day, giving my pathetically weak body two days rest in-between.
I've finally reached week 6 of 8, and this morning I did something I never in a million years thought I'd ever be able to do. I got up and ran 2 full miles without even stopping to walk. Two. Full. Miles. That might not seem like a huge accomplishment, but remember, I was never a runner. I was the girl who deserved a medal for the excuses I came up with to get out of running a mile during physical fitness testing in school.
And you know what? I enjoyed it. When I loaded up my app and saw "Run 2 miles (or 20 minutes)" I may have panicked and had a moment of "Oh yeah right," but I did it. I freaking did it. Sure, each mile took me 11 minutes to run, which I'm sure is laughable to most runners, but for me it was a huge accomplishment.
Did I also mention that in addition to my satisfying sense of achievement I also have jeans that I can no longer wear because they're too large? ...because I totally do. I can also fit into my "skinny" jeans, but they're also quickly heading towards the "too big" pile in my closet. In addition, my thyroid meds that kept getting increased to higher and higher dosages? They've been reduced twice, since my body actually has it's own metabolism again. Take that, every doctor who told me that exercise wouldn't make a difference with my thyroid disease.
So what's the point of this post? I don't really know. I kind of wanted to just pat myself on the back for what I've accomplished so far. My goal is to run a 5K without dying before reaching the finish line, so I still have a ways to go, but I'm getting there. So if you're reading this and thinking, "Yeah, that's great, but there is NO way I could ever do it," guess what? You can. If I can get my ass up off of the couch and go for a run, anyone can. No matter how slow and pathetic you feel when you start out, keep going. Always, keep going.
