My love affair with running starts

Hello Friends!

As many of you may know, the past year I have dived into the pool of fitness! I went from being pretty much sedentary to running four 5K's,  one 4 mile Dune Dash, one 10K, riding my bicycle for several 100 miles, lifting weights, walking, cross-country skiing, and just enjoying having to catch my breath and wipe the sweat from face. I can't believe how many years of my life I spent sitting on my butt, watching television, reading, and being on the internet. When you do nothing every single day it's very hard to start doing "something." But I was determined. I was tired of being tired. I didn't like the reflection that stared back at me. The unhappy face. The face that carried extra weight and sadness. So I decided that I was going to change. I started by downloading the C25K app. I took some time and looked at each week to see what I was going to have to accomplish on the treadmill (March in Michigan last year was VERY cold, plus we had a TON of snow...so running outside was not something I even considered!). The first few weeks looked doable and I thought to myself, "you've got this!" Ha! Little did I know that years of sitting around did a lot of damage to my health. Nothing was easy, but I instantly felt better after each workout. Not only did I feel better, but I also started to feel empowered. As the weeks went by the length of time I was able to run increased. My self confidence started to amp up and I knew that I could actually run a 5K!! My best girlfriends encouraged me to sign up for The Color Run and even went so far as to run it with me!  When they did that I knew I had surrounded myself with a group of women who knew how to love and support each other. I knew I had found my "tribe." With them by my side, I crossed my first official finish line and fell in love with running. There was no turning back for me, I was hooked!