Why I Preach of Running

Back in the summer of 2007 I was quite pregnant with my second child and stepping onto the scale during one of my bi-weekly doctor visits. The woman weighing me looked up sympathetically and announced that I needed to go back to the waiting room to wait for a different chair. The fat chair. This was a defining moment because I could no longer ignore the issue of my weight.

Fast forward several months, past the birth of my son and the crazy days and sleepless nights that followed adjusting to life with two children 17 months apart. At some point I found the energy to start using our elliptical machine a few times per week. I lost weight. Eventually my progress plateaued and the dread of heading into the basement to stare at the cement wall while working out on that horrid machine became too much. I'd heard of a 5k training program and I had just enough confidence to give it a shot. Thankfully there were a number of friends who accepted the challenge along with me. We met early in the morning, or later in the evening to get our runs in; whatever it took. In September of 2009 I ran my first 5k. In January 2010 I joined a local running group to train for a 25k. It turns out that particular race experience was awful despite my hard training, so there was only one thing to do after that...sign up for a marathon, of course! I completed my first 26.2 in October 2010 and was ready to run another before I'd even finished.

Running put me outside of my comfort zone. It lead me to meet new people who challenged and inspired me. Running taught me that I was selling myself short in at least one area of life; and taking a risk wasn't only scary but often times rewarding. I started off running to lose weight and now I'm here looking back 65 pounds lighter and realizing how many things it has taught me along the way. It has truly changed my life. Forgive me, but I owe so much to running that I often can't shut-up about it.