It’s another edition of Just Run, where each month a group of my running blogger friends gather with their tips, tricks and thoughts on all things running.
In case you missed the previous editions:
5 Things I’d Hate to Run Without
Running Solo vs Running With a Group
The Best Post Run Recovery Tips
This month we are looking back and asking, “Why did I start running?” We all have our own story about how we got into running.
Here’s my story.
11 years ago, I never would have called myself a runner.
I ran but I didn’t run for the right reasons.
I didn’t love it.
It didn’t make me happy.
I didn’t know that you could actually love running.
I signed up for my first half marathon in 2007 with little to no experience running. The half marathon was going to be my first ever race, too.
Before I started training for the half, the majority of running that I did was casual and more for weight management. I think the most I ran was 4 miles at one time. I had thought about running a half at some point in my life. I was on the verge of turning 30 and thought it was now or never. Because little did I know, there is life after you hit 30. Lol!
I followed my running plan religiously. It was very basic with nothing but straight up running, no tempos, or speed workouts. Just easy pace and one long run a week.
I ran the race with no problems but still didn’t have a love of running.
I continued to run on and off after the race. I wasn’t hooked by any means on running. In 2008, I became pregnant. After coming home from a run, I suffered a miscarriage early on in the pregnancy. I knew that running had nothing to do with it but subconsciously, I blamed it. I didn’t want anything to do with running after that. I needed a break.
Fast forward two years later. Â I was a new mama to twins. I signed up for another half marathon as a way to shed the baby weight. I started to run more, longer. My thoughts toward running began to change. I craved the time alone to think, have quiet and find myself again.
Out on the road, I wasn’t the caretaker, the mama, the diaper changer, the wife, the career woman. I was left with nothing but the real me.
It may have seemed like I was running away but it was more like running towards finding myself again.
And so my love affair with running began. After that race, I looked at running differently. I think that’s when I really started running.
It’s no longer something I dread. I crave a run whether it’s alone with my thoughts or chattering away with running buddies. It’s taken me to places mentally and physically that I never knew I could go. It has nothing to do with a number on the scale and everything to do about my mental health. I wish I would have found running sooner in my life but then would it still be something I enjoy so much? I don’t know. What I do know is that I hope to be running for years to come.
Want to see what my blogger friends have to say? Check it out below and be sure to click on the image or their name to get the details.
Why did you start running? Every runner’s story is different. Read the #JustRun bloggers stories…
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Why did you start running?
Linking up with Coaches Corner and Wild Workout Wednesday.
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