Me, a runner?

If you know me, you'll likely know that running is something I have ALWAYS struggled with.

In my eyes, being a runner was the definition of being in shape. I'd see people run at the gym and be envious of them. No matter how much I worked out, no matter how in-shape I was, running was always something that eluded me.

A little over a year ago I was determined and gave it another try. I was probably in my best shape ever and felt that if not then, when. I did ok. I hit a mile last January and then slowly increased my distance, although I don't think I ever made it past 1.75 without a walking break.

Shortly after I moved to CT in June I ran 2.0 miles and was PSYCHED. Unfortunately, it never happened again. Whether it was running out of breath, stomach pains or leg pains, I just couldn't push through. I was beyond disappointed at my lack of progress so I gave up on running for a while.

While at the gym in NY a couple months ago I was feeling energetic so I gave it a go. However this time I ran at a slower speed and found that it wasn't so bad. This gave me a small boost of confidence and the motivation to try again.

Once back in CT I did just that. First I made it a mile, then I did 1.5, then 1.75 and then on Wednesday I just kept going until the pain in my side caused me to stop. I hit 2.6 miles! While I'm totally excited, i'm also nervous that I'll never be able to repeat this feat. I really hope that's not the case because my dream is to reach 3 miles and one day be able to do a 5k. We'll see.

And I think I finally got a runner's high and it was pretty darn nice.

I can only hope that this is just the beginning. I'll keep you posted.