Feeling Fit and Doing Fine

Every time I see an article about someone losing weight, they inevitably have starting running. Running is an amazing way to get fit - it's easy, it's fun, you can burn a LOT of calories, and you can either do it alone or with other people. And there are plenty of gadgets to help you fit in with the other "elite" runners.

I have lost about 35 pounds in 18 months. Basically, since my second son was born, I have worked really hard to lose weight. I have reached my goal weight, and even though I can stand to lose a few more pounds, I have stopped keeping track of my weight.

Over the years I've tried many things to lose weight, and after my first son was born it took me three years to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. One more year and my other son was born and I had gained more weight than I had ever had before.

After three months I joined a gym and started walking and doing the elliptical machine. My husband started running. I thought he was crazy since we were both operating on very little sleep due to the new baby; but he swore that he had more energy after he ran. It didn't take long for him to become addicted. He says it is all my fault. The first time he spent $90 on a pair of running shoes (I called them tennis shoes!), I said that he had better use those shoes after spending so much money on them. So he did. Now he's a running fanatic and his primary goal now is qualifying for the Boston Marathon. He's run four marathons and is training for the Columbus marathon in October.

When he was on his way to becoming a real runner, I started walking longer distances and faster, and thought, what the heck, why don't I try running? After a lot of short intervals of running then walking, I finally was able to run a mile, then a mile and a half, and so on. I didn't have to be too coordinated to run nor did I have to play on a team.

You don't have to strive to win a race to enter and run in it. People even cheer you on, and if you are in the right races, you get medals, T-shirts and even wine! After my first real race, a four miler on Thanksgiving Day, I was hooked. I never thought I'd be running half marathons. That was 3 of those four mile races! Nevertheless, I kept running, and running, and soon had finished my first half marathon. I was hooked.

I now have muscles in my legs that you can actually see (and some that are pretty pissed off at me right now). I like the way I look and feel. I can find clothes that fit and I'm not embarrassed to wear a bathing suit. I still will NOT wear a bikini, though. Too many stretch marks.

Even though I still have shin splints (the physical therapist said I was bowlegged but that's another post), running has been good to me. I hope to be able to do it for a very long time.