"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'"
-Peter Maher (Irish-Canadian Olympian/marathoner)
I have personally felt like answering that question with I am going to be a wimp...for pretty much my whole life. I h.a.t.e. running. I hear people say all the time how they have grown to love running. I think they are deluded liars. (But, I still love you!) However, having babies does things to your body that cannot be undone without lots of hard work. Work that I can very easily choose to put off. My mom is my hero in many ways. She is a runner. A happily deluded liar! I cheered her on when she began her journey of becoming a runner several years ago and anxiously awaited her crossing of the finish line at a half-marathon 2 summers ago. My self-delusion and lying has lasted my whole life telling myself that I could run if I felt like it. Guess what? I couldn't! Over the years I have gained and lost lots of weight (who hasn't?) but, I have managed to avoid running. I love the elliptical and I love walking (like a speed walk!) so these have been my preferred methods of "working out;" however, I have decided to tackle this hurdle of running in my life. My mom and I have been "running" together twice a week for almost 2 months now. Sometimes I think I want to call her and cancel...but, then I think "how lame and I?" and I don't. The first time I went with her I could only run for a few blocks at a time. How pathetic is that? We did the same 3 mile loop and I would progressively run for longer intervals. The day I ran .5 mile without stopping I thought "I will never be able to run farther than that!" All along the way I would be yelling at my dear sweet mom that she must hate me and that she needed to go back and get a car to pick my fat butt up and that I really didn't like her anymore...and she would cheerfully run circles around me saying "you aren't going to let your old mom beat you! You can't stop now, you are almost there!" (The thing is that I don't really care if she wins when it comes to running;) ) It has been a lot of work, and a lot of hate, but last week I ran a full mile! Don't get me wrong I was exhausted and irritated that she "made" me do it, but I did it. Then she "tricked" me into running intervals for another 1.5 miles. Well, today she really outdid herself. She took me on a different route (I specifically told her I was not going to run the ridiculous hills around here) that was 3 miles with "about a mile" of a slight downhill that we would run. I did like the subtle decline, but I was sure that it was longer than a mile. She kept smiling and saying "no, it is a mile....well, maybe a little bit over a mile." The devil is in the details. As we reached that light that marked the end of running she laughed at me and asked me how I felt since I had just run 1.5 miles. What?! I am not even kidding that I have never run that far without stopping in my entire life.
I wish I could say that I am learning to love running. That would be a delusional lie. I hate everything about it...other than the fact that I can now say with all honesty that I can do it if I feel like it!
4 comments:
You go girl!! I felt like that for a very long time thinking I would never have to work out bwaahaaa yea right!!! I have realized I will have to workout for the rest of my life lol whether i like it or not!! U go with ur bad self!!!
I am totally with you. Running is a hate-hate relationship for me, too. I am about dying at all the people I know who are all of a sudden running marathons (and posting on their blogs about it). I always feel like I'm the only person who doesn't run. And not just "doesn't run" but HATES running. So I'm glad I'm not alone. :) I am VERY impressed at all the running you've been doing with your mom. And that compliment is coming from a fellow running-hater, so you know it's very genuine. :) Good for you! (But I think if you like walking or elliptical better, go for it. That's my theory for myself, anyway!)
Toshia, first of all, you are awesome!! It takes serious motivation to start running.
I have to tell you, I gained tons of weight too from having 2 babies. I had 60 pounds to loose and it felt like it would never happen. Well, when I first started, my goal was to run for a song on my Ipod, like 3 minutes? that was HARD! I couldn't even do it! Well, over a year later I ran a 10k for 56 minutes without stopping. You can do it!! And I think the longer you run, you will start to love it :)
My advice is to sign up for your first 5k (3.1 miles) and train. That will be the start of your way to a healthier you! That was the case with me. I've lost 55 pounds and feel great :) Good luck!
Yay for you Toshia! Trust me, those were my exact thoughts when I started running. The thing is that for me it's always the first 2 miles of a run that are the hardest then after that it gets easier. But I actually love running now. It's so freeing! The days that I don't run I actually have all this pent up energy that I need to get out and I just can't wait to run again. But it's all in the attitude. If you keep thinking you hate running, then you will. Our bodies are built to run. So enjoy!!
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