Living the Fit Life

Do you have that aha moment when you decided to start running?  I did.

When I was younger, I was one of those people that hated running.  You know how when you are young and running means sprinting?  I didn’t know the meaning of pace yourself.  Run at a steady pace and you can go forever.  So, every time I would run, I would feel out of breath and miserable.  I hated running!

I had 2 kids and I gained 50 pounds with each pregnancy.  The first time I lost most of it, the second time I kept an extra 20-25 pounds on.  After my youngest son turned 1 1/2 I hit a breaking point.  Now, I have always been fit so this extra weight drove me insane.  I finally said, “that’s it, I can’t take it anymore!”

I had bought a cheap treadmill at my neighbor’s garage sale a couple months prior and I decided that while my kids were napping I would run on that treadmill every day.

I don’t even remember whether it was difficult in the beginning or not.  I just ran.  All I remember is that I was at the point of running 6 miles every day on that same treadmill, in that same room, looking at the same things.  I was dedicated.

This went on for about 6 months and by the time I went to put on that season’s clothes, they were all 2 sizes too big.  I didn’t even own a scale so I never knew how the weight loss was going.

I looked great, but more importantly I felt great (and my husband was happy too)!  I decided to run a marathon with Team in Training in 2004 and the rest is history.

I have had bumps in the road along the way and taken breaks from my routine, but I always come back to it because when I run and exercise regularly, I am at my best.

Come visit my blogs Livin the Fit Life and Livin the Hike Life, and follow along on my journey to stay fit in the Pacific Northwest.