So, how exactly did I become a runner at age 32? Here is a brief overview of my life as an athlete. Because if I can do it, anyone can do it!!!! It is just a matter of getting started.
Childhood: gymnastics, bike riding, tag, baseball, basketball (around the world counts, right?) and football. All of which were played in my neighborhood where all the kids were boys. Except for myself and my best friend. Explains a lot right???
Junior high: I decide to play 7th grade girls basketball. It is NOT as fun as h.o.r.s.e and around the world. I ended up being the official score keeper, although I did participate in practice. Our coach thought it would be awesome if we were a "running" team. Hooray for line sprints up and down the gym! And that was the end of my basketball career.
High school: participated in required PE classes. We did go to parks a lot, but not to do any form of exercise. I did some of the cheesy VHS workouts like Jane Fonda and The Firm. Ok, ok...and Richard Simmons. Sweating to the Oldies was cool!
College: At some point in college I started taking 2 credits of PE every quarter. I think I may have taken EVERY single class offered at least once. And I might have even minored in kick boxing- I took that class about 10 times! That was back in the Billy Blanks, Tae Bo days. Step aerobics was another favorite, as was weight training. I was really into working out at that point and did a lot of bike riding and hiking.
After college I joined Bally's and continued to workout regularly. I never, ever ran though. It just was not fun and I didn't see the point. Then I got pregnant (yes, after I was married) and was so sick I stopped all working out. Actually, it wasn't until after my second child was born that I started exercising again. CRAZY!!!!
So we joined the YMCA and have been happily working out ever since. That was 4 years ago. I was a regular at the kickboxing class (remember, I have a minor in that!) for a couple of years. I would also rotate between the elliptical machines and weights. I felt good, but I just needed to do something else- step it up a notch.
I had reached a plateau in my fitness and decided to make my New Year's resolution be to start running. Then one of my friends mentioned hers was to run a half marathon, and she wanted to know if I was interested. I thought about it for a while and decided YES, I was up for the challenge!!! I began my running program last January 14th and haven't stopped since. I LOVE running now and hope I can do it for a long time. I find it helpful to have an event on the calendar to keep me motivated. And running in races is actually really fun- the running community is very supportive and are generally happy, helpful people.
I will stop with the boring history lesson for now and leave you with my random story for the day:
At work we lock up our outdoor furniture at night with a small rope and padlock. I got a phone call today from one of my coworkers asking me where the key was to our "new" masterlock. Since I closed last night I assured her that there was not a new lock, just the old one. Well, turns out that somebody removed our lock last night and replaced it with a different one that we obviously don't have a key for. SUPER FUNNY JOKE!!!! Some people are just bizarre. So one of my regular customers picked the lock for me this afternoon (just like Macgyver) and we went and bought a new one. I can just see them walking by, looking at the furniture still locked up this morning and laughing at how funny they are. hilarious.
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