Thursday, May 2, 2013

How I Started Running & Throwback Thursday Pics

As I am approaching my first half marathon THIS Saturday, I have been thinking about how I started running in the first place.  I wasn't always a runner, and I am definitely not a great runner.  But I run, and at this point I kind of enjoy it (most of the time). 

In high school I played hockey up until my senior year of school.  I was decent but I worked really hard and enjoyed playing the game.  Hockey took up a lot of my time and by the time my senior year of high school rolled around, I was a little burned out and I really wanted to try other things while I could.  So I sat that year out and instead tried out for the school musical.  Yeah, I was a wannabe theater nerd, whatev.  I LOVED being in that musical, though.  Our school put on "Fiddler on the Roof" and I was Grandma Tzeitel.  It was AWESOME, not gonna lie.  I had a solo song that I had to sing in a "back from the dead" granny voice, and I totally killed it.  And that is where an actress was born.  Just kidding, but that is where my "I want to be an actress" bug came from.  But we all know how that turned out.  :)

Anyway, since I wasn't playing any sports, yet still eating like a 13 year old boy going through puberty, the weight started creeping on.  By that spring I noticed I had gained some weight, and decided that I needed to start running.  I knew nothing about running at all, other than it helped people lose weight.  At first, I would run about 15 minutes on the treadmill and then do a yoga VHS (yes a VHS - I am old).   But the weight started falling off (thanks to my teenage metabolism) and I kept getting better at running. 

After my senior year I went to college at Arizona State.  Hello warm weather and a lot of really good looking people.  It was definitely a culture shock coming from Minnesota but I loved it.  My dorm had a POOL!!!!  And there were palm trees everywhere!!!  That may or may not have been one of the deciding factors on going there.  :) 

How could I pass up living here????
I got a little self conscious and knew that I had to keep working out since I would be living off ramen noodles and pizza rolls.  So I started going to the gym on campus daily.  Again, I started running maybe 20-30 minutes at a time, but just kept upping how long I would be on the treadmill each time.  I eventually told myself that I wanted to work out for 60 minutes on the treadmill.  Whether I was walking, running, bouncing, whatever - I stayed on the treadmill for 60 minutes almost every day.  By the time my freshman year of college was over, I was running 6 miles in 60 minutes, 6-7 days/week.  I lost 15 pounds that year.  I was in the best shape of my life.  I loved it because I felt good, was in shape, and I actually enjoyed it.  I had gotten to a point where if I missed a day I felt weird. 

Now fast forward to today.  Since my freshman year of college a lot has happened.  I moved, graduated college, got married, had a baby, etc.  Life happens and I have not kept up running like I was able to in the past.  But running has always been there for me.  Whether I am running 1 time a week or 1 time a month, it has always been my go-to exercise.  For me, it's what is most effective to get me in shape, and to lose weight. 

Our Wedding - 2010
Kamden just a few minutes old :)
There is a thing about running, though, that has made me have a love/hate relationship with it.  When I love it, I really love it.  I love that I can go for a run, clear my head, sweat my a$$ off, and shoot for that runner's high.  I hate it when I haven't run for a couple weeks and when I start up again, it's like I start from square 1.  It's amazing at how fast you can get out of shape to run but how much work it takes to build back up to being a good runner again (whatever that is).  But in the end, the reward is always worth it.  I love the sense of accomplishment that comes with running a distance you never thought you could.  I love knowing that I worked my butt off that day.  So with that said, here's to running my 1/2 marathon this Saturday!  Hopefully I can find that runner's high and make it until the end of the 13.1 miles!!!!! 
This is currently what it looks like where I am running my 1/2 marathon this Saturday.  WTF!!!????? 13 inches of snow on May 2nd?????????????????????????????????????
Thanks to my aunt for the pic - got it off FB.
Okay, I am done talking about running.  Here is one of the best pictures of all time for Throwback Thursday:

My friend Adam and I decided that we were going to re-create every statue we saw on our Austria trip in HS.  There are PLENTY more where this came from! :)
Welp off to try and not cry about all the snow in Minnesota right now.  See ya later suckas!

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