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Why I run? Because running almost killed me.

Running was never my thing. Ok, let’s be honest, exercise was never my thing. I tried it once. I started going to this awesome Pilates class with some girlfriends afterwork – it worked your abs like crazy. Partly because we laughed so hard at one another.

That lasted about a year. I tried Goodlife after that but found it too pretentious. I was overweight and felt like an outcast so I stopped going. The stupid thing about that was that I was there because I was fat and needed to lose weight; yet being there made me hate my body even more because I felt judged. I know it was all in my head, but it was my reality and it made me retreat. Fast forward a couple years to a day that I’ll never forget – I still think I had a life-changing, near death experience.

I had a life-changing, near death experience. 

My husband was between the bike and run transitions at Ironman Mont Tremblant and in order to cheer him on at the start of his run, I had to get from point A to point B before him – sound easy? Yah, insert crazy loud laugh here. My girlfriend and I sprinted across a field and through crowds to watch Nunzio start off on his marathon… I made it on time to see him off but when I asked my girlfriend how far we had just run (I was convinced that it was at least 1k) she said maybe 200m. WHAT? My lungs and heart were on fire! I thought they were going to burn right through my chest and onto the course. 200 friggin’ meters. WTF?!?! Here I am dying, literally, while my husband just swam 4.2k, rode 180k on his bike and was about to run a marathon – all in a row! I thought how sad it would be for him to finish only to find out that a 200m jaunt killed his wife. Sad as in embarrassing. I look back at the pictures and I wonder how I lived through those 200 f*ing meters of pure hell.

… running almost killed me.

That was the day that changed my life. I got home a few days later and decided to become a runner. I bought new shoes, grabbed my Lulu’s and hit the road. 1.5k on day 1 and I didn’t die. It hurt like hell but I survived. And I went back out a couple days later. I’m still running and feeling rather good about myself.

5 reasons I (continue to) run:

1. Death due to lungs and heart on fire. That would really suck.  And let’s be honest, I don’t want to die an embarrassing death while cheerleading the athleticism of my husband. Being the chubby cheerleader makes it difficult to maneuver around an Ironman course and frankly it’s not cool to be hanging out on the  sidelines sweating more than the endurance athletes.
2. My head hurts less. Anyone else have a head filled with constant white noise? Well, running calms the crazy and the speed at which the crazy flows. I admit that the first month or so I was would stop a run short because I couldn’t deal with the overwhelming sense of boredom I was experiencing – even when critiquing the neighbourhood gardens. But over time, I found that running quieted the white noise and it gave me time to de-stress and filter out the negativity in the world. It also gave me time to listen (and re-listen) to my hero, Jenny Lawson tell her story via audio books. Damn that girl is funny!
   

   Camelback Mountain, Scottsdale Arizona.

3. Weight loss. Running 3-4 times a week since August has helped me lose 30lbs (and counting). I joined Weight Watchers at the end of September to help in the process but man oh man has running ever been great at building strength and endurance.  Now I can keep up and I sweat less. I have 30lbs to go and I know running will be key in helping me reach my goal.
4. Vacation. In our family, vacation and activity to go hand in hand. Last November, Nunzio and our BFs headed to Scottsdale Arizona for yet another Ironman. During our trip we climbed a mountain. For fun. And although I didn’t reach the top, I got so much further than I ever would have if I hadn’t been running. My confidence and excitement about the climb still lingers today. I know I’ll make my way back to Camelback Mountain one day and reach the top.
5. Knees and back pain. Chronic knee and back pain sucks. It’s been months since I’ve had an ache. Enough said on this for obvious reasons.

BONUS REASON: I love how I feel after a run. Holy shit do I feel like I can accomplish anything. I ran my first 5k in November and I’m still riding the high. In fact I felt so good about myself I signed up for a 10k trail run in May – WTF was I thinking???

What I have taken away from this entire experience is that anyone can run. Any age, any weight… its a choice. You just need to know that it’s possible and that you can do it.