If you know me, then it’s probably no surprise that my topic for the letter R in the blogging A to Z challenge is running.

I’m a runner.

You have no idea how much I enjoy typing that sentence. Because I wanted to be a runner for a long time and it’s finally happened.

A number of years ago, I decided I wanted to start running. And I failed at it. I had shin splints so bad that there were a few times I was literally unable to walk because my shins hurt so horribly. I wasn’t surprised because so many other times I tried to run I had the same problem with my shins. I was giving up the dream.

Then in 2013 my husband decided to start running. And he had success at it. And I became consumed with jealousy. He wanted to run the Hot Chocolate race in Chicago and I actually picked a fight with him in order to give myself a reason not go cheer him on at his first 5K. I eventually did tell him how terribly envious I was feeling and I did go cheer him on, but I was an ugly person.

While he was training, I secretly started trying to run again. It was brutal. I was so out of shape. But I noticed that my shins weren’t bothering me. I literally started running by running for 30 seconds, walking for 5 minutes, and repeating this. I slowly started to increase my running time and decrease my walking time until I could start using a couch-to-5K app, then I used that, sometimes repeating a week 2, 3, even 4 times. I decided to run my first 5K in December 2013. It was brutal because I was really overweight plus I had a fresh snow fall to run through.

But that 5K really spurred me on and I kept running. I kept trying to improve, sometimes my pace, sometimes my distance. I tend not to care that I am a slow runner; my pace tends to be somewhere in the 13:00 – 13:30 mile pace. I’ve done as well as 12:51.

The photo on the left is me crossing the finish line at my very first 5K. The picture on the right is me crossing the finish line at the same race one year later. What a difference some hard work, determination, and weight loss make 🙂

This past December I ran the same 5K I ran for my first 5K and it was a lot easier and a lot more satisfying. Since then, I’ve managed to increase my distance to 5 miles for my longest run. On average, I run 2 – 3 miles each time I run (about 4 times a week). I can easily remember when it was a struggle to run a mile. Now a mile isn’t even a workout.

I have even suffered a typical runner’s injury, had physical therapy, and bounced back from the injury.

One day, while talking with my husband about my running, he called me an athlete. I was dumbfounded. I’ve never been an athlete in my life. But I started thinking about it and realized he is right. I AM an athlete.

I’m a runner.

And I’m damn proud of it.