40 Something “Wanna Be Runner” Speaks Out
I am not a runner. I have never been a runner or had the desire to become one…..
It all started when a friend of mine (for the last 30+ yrs) asked for people to join her for a 5k run to raise money for food shelves, this was Spring 2014. This also happened to coincide with my adult son telling me I needed to find a hobby that wasn’t related to him or work.
Despite my aversion to running, I told my friend I would join her. I didn’t want to look like a total idiot so I started the “Couch to 5k” training program. I walked/ran my first 5k, had fun hanging with my friend and was some how talked into doing another. This second 5k officially started it all.
The Electric Run was held on a Friday night in June which also happened to be my 46th birthday. Promptly after finishing this 5k, while enjoying a post race libation with my friend and my marathoner future sister in-law, I decided these 5k’s were kind of fun. I got to hang out with friends and the energy of hundreds to thousands of other runner/walkers was a little infectious. It was at that moment that I foolishly declared with the friend who started it all that I would commit to running 1 5k a month for the next year! Woo-Hoo!! This was going to be great!I realized the next day what I had gotten myself into as we started registering for run after run. It wasn’t enough for me to just show up for these things……if i was going to commit, I was truly going to commit and run, which meant I had to train.
My love of exercise includes, biking, Yoga, weight-lifting…..it does not and never has included running.
I discovered quickly that becoming a runner at 46 is not an easy task and required research and planning. The other thing I realized was that I was going to have to run in the cold. Being a PTA and working with many active people including runners, I knew the basics of what I needed to do to get my body in “running” shape. I spoke with my running work colleagues and friends for further advice and read a great book titled “Running and Walking for Women Over 40: The Road to Sanity and Vanity” by Katherine Switzer. I have researched diet, clothing, etc.
