Maybe you saw the title of this post and immediately had a variety of responses run through your mind. But you continued reading, so your curiosity is piqued. I despised running when I began. Athletic was not a word I would have used to describe myself. However as a young adult, I had a determination not to be a product of my genetics. I come from a family (as many of us do) of bodies who are obese with horrible lipid profiles and hypertension. Somewhere around age 14 I decided that I didn’t want to look or feel like many members of my family. The decision was made then and there to be healthy. Despite my genetic make up, I knew my choices could change my destined body. Initially, I was involved in group fitness classes, such as aerobics (land and water). Those classes didn’t fit my schedule during college. The next best way to torch calories was to try running (or waddling, as it probably looked back then).
Upon starting, the furthest I could jog at without stopping was only 1/4-1/2 mile! If you think you’re in good shape doing pretty much any other fitness activity, you’ll be humbled when trying to run. Oh, yes, I was humbled. I hated every minute of that treadmill initially. It was hard, I didn’t look pretty doing it, and I hated to profusely sweat. My mind was filled with curse words, watching the timer tick, hearing my heavy breathing and feet pounding. “Are you kidding me? It’s only been 5 minutes?!” “Stubborn” is a word that I often heard to describe me. Call it stubbornness. Call it determined. Call it crazy. I just kept going. Day after day I set my alarm to get there, with a goal of running a 5k without stopping. That was in 1997.
Funny thing is that I don’t even remember much about that first 5k, other than that I completed it a couple years later. I then went on to do a 10K and half marathon. You see, once you see what you are capable of, you become addicted to pushing your limits to see just how far or fast you can go.
Somewhere in those miles, I stopped thinking about the heavy breathing, how many minutes were left, or how tired I felt. I began daydreaming of all the things that were possible. I solved problems I’d been thinking about for days. I felt more relaxed than during any other part of my day. The monotonous task of one foot in front of the other for thousands of steps became comforting and something I looked forward to. In the years that followed, my run was MY time. Time that no one else could need me to wipe their butt, get them food, answer their health questions, fold their laundry. Running gave me time to think, process, and dream.
Anyone who has been considering taking up running but thinks it’s too hard should reframe their way of thinking. Running teaches endurance, persistence, patience to keep going when the going is tough. Running teaches us to challenge our limiting beliefs about ourselves and our capabilities. And running not only is good for our cardiovascular systems, it’s SO good for our hearts.
