I am running again.  It’s an activity I did from 7th to 11th grade, opting out of Track my senior year in lieu of a play.  Was it the right decision?  I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter.  But I am running now – following the popular Couch 2 5K program and it is going very well.  It’s been an on/off battle over the past twelve years to keep running.  Something always seemed to come up – or I just wouldn’t do it.

The problem was that I never had to “get” into shape in school.  I did sports all the time and was fairly active, so there was no need to get into shape.  But after college and the sedentary lifestyle I developed, running was a challenge.  I didn’t really know how to get started.  I never bothered to memorize workouts from high school – I just did what the coach told me.  Running was scary, to a small degree.  Why do it?

There were many starts, but they didn’t last very long.  There were times I would be ready to run and change my mind, and do something else.  The concept of running didn’t seem appealing – but it was all part of the bigger picture.  Being healthy.

I’m healthier now that I’m several weeks into the program.  At the end of May I run my first 5k in probably eight years – and I barely “ran” the last one I was in.  Running no longer fills me with dread or worry I won’t be able to do it.  Music helps, but so does the program which has let me move up at my own pace.  Part of me likes to skip – but I try to stay on it.

Now – I still dread running a little.  There are days I would rather not, but I think about how I can now jog (and I don’t jog very quickly) at a decent pace for 28 minutes.  When I started, three minutes was a hardship.  I don’t want to go back.  This is my third time on the program, and what is really nice is knowing that if I fail I can start again and try again and that’s pretty nice.

But mostly, when I tie those shoes I feel ready.  I bought new shoes at the start, my old running shoes finally toast after too many stop/starts, and they feel good.  Running feels good.  I still have a long way to go before I’m doing amazing at it.  My gait is still very uneven, and my jogging is very jog like and labored.  But as I run, my weight drops, which makes it all the easier.  As I run, the days I don’t I feel full of more energy to play with Zachary – and that’s really who I’m running for.

Zachary is two and he has more energy than a nuclear reactor.  When I think about how much play time I could miss out on by not being in shape?  It makes me sad.  He needs his dad to be there for him, so I’m making sure I will be.  In shape.  So we can have adventures.