The photo on the top of this blog is of Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. I vacation there every summer and my son took that picture at just 4 years old. This is the whole shot.
On our last trip there last summer I made sure not to be too lazy. I took walks every day and during those walks I started to run. I did a little at at time. It got hot out but I still ran. I ran just about every day. My first day after my first run I could barely sit down because my legs weren’t used to running, and running up and down hills. Each day got a little bit easier. When we came home from the trip, even after a 5+ hour car ride, I went for a quick run through my neighborhood. I think it might have only been 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile total running, but it was my first neighborhood run getting me into the cycle of running that I am in now.
Years ago I used to run on my treadmill. I started in 2002 after being diagnosed with Henoch Schloen Purpura and I didn’t want my disease to hinder anything in my life. It caused my husband and I to have to put our wish to start a family immediately after getting married on hold. So I didn’t want it to affect anything else in my life. So during those years I did up to about 5 miles on the treadmill with walking and running. But I never took it outside. I would roller blade and mountain bike, but I was never a “runner”. I didn’t think being a runner is something you are when you do it on the treadmill. Now that I have been out running in the elements, through the heat, rain and cold, I still don’t feel like a “real runner”. I feel like you don’t become a real runner until you do something big like a marathon.
So I am pushing on towards that goal. Starting with a half marathon and dreaming of doing a full one.