5K in April 2009. It was amazing! Everything I read about......goosebumps, teary eyes, totally hooked! I finished the race and instantly talked about the next one I was going to do. It helped that I won one of the raffle prizes (a pair of cool socks!) my family was there and the weather was perfect.It was a long road to get that point though. I played sports all my life, but loathed running. I ran so that I could pass the timed mile/2 mile to get on the team and that was it. I played field hockey and lacrosse. Lots of running in lacrosse, but if there wasn't a lacrosse stick in my hand - fat chance I was going to run. I played lacrosse in college. Loved it. Made lots of friends. Still hated to run. My roommate was on the soccer team. We were both captains our senior year - had lots of responsibilities......still hated to run.
After I graduated I spent 2 years in graduate school, got a job, got married. Gained alot of weight. A LOT. It was not pretty. I went to weight watchers, which worked great, and just kept on going. After I had my first son (went up to 200 pounds) I used Shaklee Cinch and walking to loose the weight. 6 months gone, back to pre-baby weight and BAM! Pregnant again! UGH! So, had son #2 and weighed in at 210 pounds. I got back onto the Shaklee shakes and went to the gym. I ended up loosing a ton of weight and started to get attention for it. I entered a contest with Shaklee and won! $500!!!!!! The write up and story is in this link: http://www.cinchclub.com/success_story.html?storyName=ann.xml
So that gave me the confidence to sign up for a 5K and I got to work. I caught the bug during that race and I've been going ever since. I like the longer runs, 10K and 1/2 marathons are my favorite. I just can't get going fast enough in a 5K to post the times I want. One day, they say it takes 7 years to get to peak running condition.....I have a LONG way to go!
How did you get started? Was there an exact moment? A bunch of things that led up to it?
I ran in high school (cross country for 3 years and track for 2) and loved it. I wasn't good at track (they had me run the 400 - ha!) but I could hold my own as a mid-pack runner in the 5k for cross country.
ReplyDeleteThen I went to college, quit running, kept eating, and began binging on soda. I got married to a great cook, which meant I ate even more. As passed 30, I realized things weren't looking good. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, a family history of heart issues. Combined with having two kids and losing my last grandparent and two uncles in one summer, I decided I had enough.
About the same time a Y opened in my area. So I started back to running. My first post-high school race I placed second in my age group and scored a trophy. I was hooked and haven't looked back since then. I was featured in the local paper for my first half marathon this year and I'll attempting my first 50k on Saturday. Still haven't done a marathon or triathlon, but they're on the goal list for next year.