That's right, Kossacks, today is the FIRST annual National Running Day! Party 'til your shoes fall off!!
Those of you following my tale know that I love to run (really, really slowly). Please run with me over the jump.
A year and a half ago, I could run NO WHERE. See, I weighed 400 pounds at 5 foot 6. A lot of that was retained water (I was bloated like a kielbasa).
This was me.
I started on an eating plan and lost weight rapidly. After losing around 130 pounds (was in my 260s), I started to feel like I wanted to exercise a little more strenuously than the walking I'd been doing until then.
I've always wanted to run. I used to dream that I'd run, lean forward and start to fly. I don't remember ever not wanting to run (except while I was trying to run, LOL!)
So I looked online. I learned about Couch to 5K. This is a program where you start out by walking, then running a little, then walking, then running a little - over a period of weeks building up the running portion to where you run 35 minutes, by the end of the program.
Lots of sites offer mp3's for free download - I used PodRunner, and loved it. By the end of 8 or 9 weeks I was NOT running 5K in 30 or 35 minutes - but I was running 5K in 45 minutes or so, within a couple of months. And I was dropping weight.
I ran a 10K in Arizona, in February:
In spite of some health issues (emotional and physical), a weight gain, and some time off from running, I do still run and back on track on my weight loss plan. I'm working my running time back up again (I ran 15 minutes straight, yesterday.) During the run, well - really, I want it to be OVER.
And when it is over, I feel fantastic.
Won't you join me in a short run to celebrate the first annual National Running Day?