Running against the Wind

I have a love-hate relationship with running. I have hated the idea of running, and found it painful when I did have to do it, all my life...until 4 months ago.

As a teen I hated running because I am a very busty girl and never had the right support. For PE we had to run the mile under a certain time in order to pass the course. So I ran the mile once a year and never any other time. I never played sports that required running so I was just not used to it. Plus running really hurts the lungs. I would give up and walk as soon as my lungs started to burn and then never run again until the next school year.

As an adult I got the support problem under control and tried a few different times to be a runner. Ryan is a big time runner and he was a good motivation, but it never really happened. I would get bad pain in my hip joints every time I ran, to the point where I couldn't walk well the next day. So I gave up on the whole idea.

Fast forward 7 years and 3 kids later. In January of this year I still had/have some Alana baby weight to lose and I was looking for some motivation. A good friend of mine emailed me about a charity race that was happening in a nearby town. All the proceeds went to a family that had medical bills to pay for their son who was recovering from cancer. That was the motivation I needed. Ryan needed some too, so we both decided to run that race. I wanted to work for the 5k (3.1 miles) and Ryan the 10k (6.2 miles). I had 3 months to be ready to run.

The first time I went out I couldn't even run around my apartment complex without stopping to walk. My lungs burned and I coughed and whined. The next time I set a goal to run the whole complex circle without stopping. I almost made it. Third time was the charm. I was proud to be seeing progress but knew I had along way to go. My complex circle is only 1/4 of a mile. I kept at it when ever I could. Finding time to run was really heard with Ryan's schedule but before I knew it I could run 2 miles without stopping.

The day of the race, March 28, 2010, I was nervous but excited. I told myself I would do my best and run at my own pace. I did just that, with a push from another runner who ran as slow

as I did. (I met her after and thanked her for keeping me going) I ran the whole thing in 37.20min. It was awesome, and now I'm hooked.

I am now trying to get my kids excited about running and being healthy. I don't want them to hate it like I did as a kid. I don't want them to avoid running sports like I did. So I asked McKenna if she wanted to do a 1 mile kids fun run that was being sponsored in April. She said yes, and was very excited for it.

On the morning of her race it had been raining for 2 days straight and it was 42 degrees outside with plenty of wind. I gave her the option to stay home or to run. She really wanted to run. So we bundled up and went out. She did so good. I ran it with her and talked her through the whole thing. After her first 1 mile run she still wants to do it again. We will keep at it.

I am hoping to do more races in the future.