This is more for me than for ya'll, so feel free to skim or skip..... just don't tell me cuz you know it'd be bad for my huge ego.  *snort*

January 8, 2012, I began the "Run Your Butt Off" program (similar to C25K).  I walked for about 30 minutes, a few times a week, and then on January 18, 2012, I took my first running steps.  Total "workout" time?  31 minutes.  Total running time?  5 minutes (in one minute segments).

It wasn't the hardest thing I've ever done (I've given birth, after all), but it was not easy, either.  I worked for those 5 minutes.

Today, I went for my first run of 2013, thinking negatively - thinking about all the running I HAVEN'T done lately, the injury I've been nursing for months, how slow I still am, how I'm probably kidding myself about the plans I have for this year, etc, etc.   Half way through my run, I started to think back to those five 1-minute running segments, and how proud I was back then to just have done that much.  I stopped telling myself those negative things, and just focused on today, and how good I was starting to feel, picking up the pace and enjoying the sunshine.

I ran 4 miles today.  Not the farthest I've ever run, not the fastest I've ever run, but nevertheless, I covered 4 miles today.  A year ago, that was unfathomable.  Today, it didn't even take much effort, and I was smiling and energetic when I got home.

In the past 12 months, I have completed six 5Ks, and an 8K.  I have run in the early morning, midday, and late at night after everyone else is asleep.  I've run on treadmills, roads, sidewalks, trails, bridges, paved paths.  I've cried while running, laughed while running, chatted while running.  I have lost weight - not much, but enough that it's noticeable to people who know me well.  I have taken over 6 minutes off my  5K time, and I have signed up for a 10 miler and a HM.

I am normally very self-effacing and painfully shy.  Running has helped me combat that.  Running has given me more confidence in myself.  I may not be the fastest, strongest, prettiest, blah, blah, blah, but in the past year, I have become a better version of myself, and I am so unbelievably grateful for that.   For all of you.

I was a "resolutioner."   Now, I'm a runner.

Di- you are a runner. Keep up the good work. You will keep growing and someday be able to look back on how far you have come.

Great job.

I've followed your journey basically from the beginning. I am so proud of how far you've come. I can't wait to see what IS to come.

Yep, you're a runner.  You've come a long way.  Great post.

Great job Di!!  Love how you were able to put things back into perspective.  You are definitely a runner! 

Half way through my run, I started to think back to those five 1-minute running segments, and how proud I was back then to just have done that much.  I stopped telling myself those negative things, and just focused on today, and how good I was starting to feel, picking up the pace and enjoying the sunshine.

 

I ran 4 miles today.  Not the farthest I've ever run, not the fastest I've ever run, but nevertheless, I covered 4 miles today.  A year ago, that was unfathomable.

What a great shift in perspective you had during your run! Reading your post made me tear up, and though practically everything does these days, I'm fairly confident I would have had the same reaction even if I weren't so hormonal. Congrats on still being a runner almost a year later. I see many more years to come

Thanks, everybody! 

I totally remember you first coming around.  I'm glad you are still running, and hope you keep it up.  Keep on truckin