Born to run?

After work last night, I collapsed on the couch watching Thomas the Train (for the millionth time) with my son. I knew I had to get a 5 miles walk in as part of my training for a 10k program. My mind was saying "go for it." My body "forget about it." When my husband got home from work, I grabbed my iPod and headed from my house to the trail. As soon as I got my groove, I knew that I wouldn't regret the walk. My favorite part is the 12 minute stretch that follows the river and the whole time I'm thinking after 6 years, I still live in the most beautiful place. I take my headphones off and just concentrate on the sound of the running water rushing through the rocks. I take my time at this part.

Running, or exercise for that matter, is not in my blood. I remember as a child embarrassing my mom as I skipped down the soccer field. Guess what, she never enrolled me in soccer again after that.

I hated PE class in high school and what I hated more was when teachers "tested" us by making us run a mile (or timed our sit-up or push-ups). I hated that day of school because it would take me 20 miles to walk a mile because I could only run for a total of 20 seconds.

Last year, Jen inspired me to start running. She proposed getting a group of folks together to start the Couch to 5K program. I really doubted my running abilities at first but Jen kept me motivated. Three times a week for 12 weeks we tackled the task of getting closer to 3 miles and then we all ran the Pacific Crest 5k to celebrate her 35th birthday.

Not only did she get me running 3 miles, she got me to like running. When I messed up my ankle last summer, I had to walk instead and it was killing me. I missed that feeling of going fast. And you know what else, she helped me develop a routine and to fit it in my busy schedule.

In the past year, she's lost 30 pounds further inspiring me to go from running a 5k to up that to a 10k. I'm on week 2 and I can tell it is already getting easier. I logged 43 miles of activity for the month of April.

Thank you Jen for being an inspiration.