I swore I'd never be that person

"what person?" you ask.

You know, the one who said  "I want to run so bad!" or "I love running." 

I can tell you that I am keeping my promise to myself.  Sort of. 

While I won't go as far to say that I love running, I will say that I'm hating it less and less.  If I'm being completely honest, I'll even go as far in saying that I've enjoyed it a time or two. 

Everyone I ever talked to that enjoyed running has said to me "Oh, I used to hate it to.  But, now I love it."  I also thought those people were crazy.  Like running hippies or something.  I just couldn't imagine ever liking something that made me look so absurd, and made me feel like I was dying.

A few months ago (maybe 4 or so) I started adding some running to my work out routine (mainly because I have a 10 year high school reunion coming up and I wasn't getting the results I wanted from just the weights.)  I'd run 1/2 a mile, do my weights, sit ups, etc. then run another 1/2 mile.  Even after 2 months of that, I still hated running.  I watched the treadmill stats like it was going out of style, and as soon as that little odometer reached .5 I flung the red emergency magnet off.

I would come home and tell E how I loathed running.  How I hated the way it made me feel.  He suggested, gently, that I may be pushing myself too hard.  I was, after all, a new runner.  Maybe I was running too fast and too much at once.  I've never been good at pacing myself, so this made sense.

I knew that a lot of my friends have had wonderful success with the Couch to 5K program.  I decided to give it a try. 

I didn't start on week one, since I had been running some and I wasn't really starting from the "couch".  I started on week two.  At first, I started on the treadmill.  As summer has transitioned into fall, I have started running outside (but, still in the early a.m. or later in the evening since its still quite warm during the day here.)  We started doing some of the running as a family.  Putting some kids in the jogger, some riding bikes.  Those, honestly, are my favorite times.  They keep me entertained. :)

On Wednesday, I hit a major milestone.  (If you're my friend on Facebook or Twitter, I'm sure you've heard all about it.)  I ran 2 full miles, with out stopping.  This is the longest I have ever run straight.  (Except in my days on the track team in high school.  They were short lived. That's a whole different story that I'll have to tell someday.  Its pretty funny.) 

Guess what!  I didn't hate it!  I actually didn't loathe it.  Maybe it was because I knew I could do it that made it not so bad.  Or that I actually did it in a pretty decent time (which, I think I was going a little too fast, though...) Whatever it was, I enjoyed it.

I know, I know.  Enjoying is bordering on liking.  Once you get to liking, its all down hill to love. 

*sigh* I do love to run downhill.