Hello!
I was recently asked in the comment section by one of my readers what my past was with running. I decided to do a post on it since it would be a little long for a comment. Be warned...this is a LONG post. :D
Really, I don't have much of a past with running for pleasure. I played volleyball, basketball, and softball throughout high school, which meant I ran throughout high school if you count all of the conditioning and games. Outside of those sports I pretty much never ran just to RUN. I remember doing that only a few times. One such time was when I was either a junior or senior in high school. I don't even remember why I wanted to go running but I went out in the fields all around my parents house and just ran for an hour and felt so ALIVE!
When I went away to college I played some intramural volleyball and basketball, but I also stayed up super late, ate soft serve ice cream in the cafeteria almost every day, and regularly went to Taco Bell late at night. Basically all of that combined equals GET FAT! I was so used to eating whatever I wanted in high school because I had been so active and it had never been a big issue.
The weight came on really quick. During my Freshman year I remember it was like "POOF!" and I had gained 20lbs. I met my husband Kyle at the end of my Freshman year. He was a basketball player, tall, and very lean. He basically has to try really hard to gain weight. He can eat whatever he wants and he won't get fat. Dating can sometimes be a recipe for diet disaster, especially for the girl! I ran off and on at different times through college but never really stuck with it or focused so much on just running. I slowly gained weight throughout our dating years, and then during my 3rd year of college, before we got married I lost a little bit of weight...maybe 5 or 10 lbs.
Right after we were married we went to Israel for a semester. I didn't like the food very much at all so most of what I ate was bread and apples. Lots and LOTS of bread. My weight was so up and down when we were there, and I gained all the weight back that I had lost before our wedding, plus some. When I got back from Israel I weighed the most I have EVER weighed in my life....almost 200 lbs! I had told my sister a long time ago to slap me if I ever got to 200 lbs. Being that heavy was a wake up call for sure.
After Israel, we moved up to Canada for Summer 2009. I was tired all the time, sluggish, and generally just felt horrible. I desperately wanted to lose weight/ knew I needed to lose weight. I didn't want to be overweight the rest of my life. I have alot of family that is overweight/ obese and I wanted to be different. I wanted to be healthy and fit. I wanted to get in shape before I had kids and teach them healthy eating and exercising habits. I ate fairly healthy during the summer, and tried some exercise videos. I tried running a few times but absolutely HATED it. Looking back now its sad but funny. I hated it because it was hard. I hated it because I would get so out of breath after a mile, and two miles was killer. I hated it because I was ashamed that I had let myself get so out of shape. Throughout that summer I ran a little here and there, I went back and forth between feeling determined and helpless, but I lost about 10 lbs overall.
At the end of the summer, Kyle and I went back to California for him to finish his last year at college. I reached out to a family friend, and she became my workout buddy. We decided to meet at a local park. The first day was so hard for me. It took a total of about 60 seconds for me to get out of breath and I couldn't believe how physically weak I was. It was hot and I was fat and slow. I stuck with it, though, and kept meeting her to work out, and did some workouts on my own. In between jumping pullups, girl pushups, and squats, my friend would have me do a little running. It started out with little bits like 400 meters or 1/4 of a mile, then slowly progressed. After a little while I started to enjoy the running.
My friend moved to a different city that was about an hour and a half away, so I started doing my workouts on my own. After a bit, I asked my sister if she wanted to be my running/workout buddy. We would get up at 5:30 and go running at 6 am a few days a week, then lift weights 1 or 2 times a week. The lifting weights was off and on, but the running was more consistent.
I started out just doing 2 miles each time. Every once in a while I would do 3 or 4. I noticed that I was getting faster and I loved it. Some of my best running days were when I had rested for a day or two before, and then went running by myself. Those days reminded me of that one run I remember doing in high school. The run where I felt so alive. I lost about 8 more lbs while I was living in California, I was running consistently and increasing my mileage.
After Kyle graduated this May I didn't run for a little while. I got really sick and didn't run for a whole week, then the next week we were packing to move out of our apartment. After those two weeks we went to my parents house and stayed with them for about a month. I only ran a few times, and ate alot of ice cream. Just keeping it real. I ate ALOT of ice cream. There is something about home...it's so hard for me to stay on track.
Anyways, this July, Kyle and I moved back up to Canada. I ran a few times, but didn't have any plan. Then at the end of September I decided...THAT'S IT! I'm doing this, all or nothing. I asked my sister if she wanted to train for a marathon with me. I knew that if I had a race that I was training for it would help me stay consistent. I signed up at an all ladies gym close to where I live that I absolutely love, and now I lift weights there four times a week. I made a training plan for the marathon and have been sticking to it faithfully. The race I want to run is in the L.A. area in May 2011.
My first post on this blog is titled, The Beginning. I titled it that because I knew this time would be different. This time I would stick with it. This time I would reach my goals. I have learned to love running so much, that I plan on doing it for the rest of my life.
If any of you actually read this whole thing then....wow.
I would love to hear your history with running. Please comment!
Thanks!
-Hannah
I was recently asked in the comment section by one of my readers what my past was with running. I decided to do a post on it since it would be a little long for a comment. Be warned...this is a LONG post. :D
Really, I don't have much of a past with running for pleasure. I played volleyball, basketball, and softball throughout high school, which meant I ran throughout high school if you count all of the conditioning and games. Outside of those sports I pretty much never ran just to RUN. I remember doing that only a few times. One such time was when I was either a junior or senior in high school. I don't even remember why I wanted to go running but I went out in the fields all around my parents house and just ran for an hour and felt so ALIVE!
When I went away to college I played some intramural volleyball and basketball, but I also stayed up super late, ate soft serve ice cream in the cafeteria almost every day, and regularly went to Taco Bell late at night. Basically all of that combined equals GET FAT! I was so used to eating whatever I wanted in high school because I had been so active and it had never been a big issue.
The weight came on really quick. During my Freshman year I remember it was like "POOF!" and I had gained 20lbs. I met my husband Kyle at the end of my Freshman year. He was a basketball player, tall, and very lean. He basically has to try really hard to gain weight. He can eat whatever he wants and he won't get fat. Dating can sometimes be a recipe for diet disaster, especially for the girl! I ran off and on at different times through college but never really stuck with it or focused so much on just running. I slowly gained weight throughout our dating years, and then during my 3rd year of college, before we got married I lost a little bit of weight...maybe 5 or 10 lbs.
Right after we were married we went to Israel for a semester. I didn't like the food very much at all so most of what I ate was bread and apples. Lots and LOTS of bread. My weight was so up and down when we were there, and I gained all the weight back that I had lost before our wedding, plus some. When I got back from Israel I weighed the most I have EVER weighed in my life....almost 200 lbs! I had told my sister a long time ago to slap me if I ever got to 200 lbs. Being that heavy was a wake up call for sure.
After Israel, we moved up to Canada for Summer 2009. I was tired all the time, sluggish, and generally just felt horrible. I desperately wanted to lose weight/ knew I needed to lose weight. I didn't want to be overweight the rest of my life. I have alot of family that is overweight/ obese and I wanted to be different. I wanted to be healthy and fit. I wanted to get in shape before I had kids and teach them healthy eating and exercising habits. I ate fairly healthy during the summer, and tried some exercise videos. I tried running a few times but absolutely HATED it. Looking back now its sad but funny. I hated it because it was hard. I hated it because I would get so out of breath after a mile, and two miles was killer. I hated it because I was ashamed that I had let myself get so out of shape. Throughout that summer I ran a little here and there, I went back and forth between feeling determined and helpless, but I lost about 10 lbs overall.
At the end of the summer, Kyle and I went back to California for him to finish his last year at college. I reached out to a family friend, and she became my workout buddy. We decided to meet at a local park. The first day was so hard for me. It took a total of about 60 seconds for me to get out of breath and I couldn't believe how physically weak I was. It was hot and I was fat and slow. I stuck with it, though, and kept meeting her to work out, and did some workouts on my own. In between jumping pullups, girl pushups, and squats, my friend would have me do a little running. It started out with little bits like 400 meters or 1/4 of a mile, then slowly progressed. After a little while I started to enjoy the running.
My friend moved to a different city that was about an hour and a half away, so I started doing my workouts on my own. After a bit, I asked my sister if she wanted to be my running/workout buddy. We would get up at 5:30 and go running at 6 am a few days a week, then lift weights 1 or 2 times a week. The lifting weights was off and on, but the running was more consistent.
I started out just doing 2 miles each time. Every once in a while I would do 3 or 4. I noticed that I was getting faster and I loved it. Some of my best running days were when I had rested for a day or two before, and then went running by myself. Those days reminded me of that one run I remember doing in high school. The run where I felt so alive. I lost about 8 more lbs while I was living in California, I was running consistently and increasing my mileage.
After Kyle graduated this May I didn't run for a little while. I got really sick and didn't run for a whole week, then the next week we were packing to move out of our apartment. After those two weeks we went to my parents house and stayed with them for about a month. I only ran a few times, and ate alot of ice cream. Just keeping it real. I ate ALOT of ice cream. There is something about home...it's so hard for me to stay on track.
Anyways, this July, Kyle and I moved back up to Canada. I ran a few times, but didn't have any plan. Then at the end of September I decided...THAT'S IT! I'm doing this, all or nothing. I asked my sister if she wanted to train for a marathon with me. I knew that if I had a race that I was training for it would help me stay consistent. I signed up at an all ladies gym close to where I live that I absolutely love, and now I lift weights there four times a week. I made a training plan for the marathon and have been sticking to it faithfully. The race I want to run is in the L.A. area in May 2011.
My first post on this blog is titled, The Beginning. I titled it that because I knew this time would be different. This time I would stick with it. This time I would reach my goals. I have learned to love running so much, that I plan on doing it for the rest of my life.
If any of you actually read this whole thing then....wow.
I would love to hear your history with running. Please comment!
Thanks!
-Hannah
I loved reading this post. I can tell that this time is different for you, and I am soooo proud and excited for you! Thanks for writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Liz, for reading the entire thing!
ReplyDelete