"The water doesn't know what age you are", said 41 year old swimmer Dara Torres on a Today Show interview with Matt Lauer. That's one of the many reasons I love running. The road doesn't know your age, weight, gender, race...and better yet, it doesn't care. It's like a therapist. If you've had a tough day it listens to your problems via the pounding on the pavement. If you've had a good day it celebrates that with you too. It's always there. I haven't always loved the sport...in fact, I never ran over one mile until 3 years ago.
In summer 2005 I met a great group of folks from the Birmingham Track Club at Vulcan Park while broadcasting live one morning on Today in Alabama. During the commercial break I complimented the ladies and gents on what great shape they were all in. I heard story after story about how each started running. One man had been told he would die in a few years if he didn't adopt a healthier way of life...another woman had fought and won the battle against breast cancer and was now running to look as good on the outside as she felt on the inside. Others just wanted to get in shape and feel good about their bodies. I could relate. Before they left Vulcan Park the BTC invited me to run with them one afternoon or Saturday morning. I will never forget my response. "I'm just not a runner".
The group told me about a program called Couch to 10K. For you non-runners out there...a 10K is 6.2 miles, which seems like forever if you don't exercise at all...which I didn't at the time. The program seemed easy. It was a weekly baby-step approach to running. The first week you'd walk a couple of minutes and run 30 seconds and then slowly build up each week. I thought to myself, "Okay, I can do this." My now husband laughed at me and said I'd never do a 10K. Big mistake. You never tell me I can't or won't do something. He bet me a ski trip. (I'd never been skiing and, guess what, still haven't.) I completed my first 10K that November and it felt good. I went on to train with that same group for the Mercedes half marathon in 2006 and then completed the LaSalle Bank Chicago marathon in October 2006. Since then I've completed 6 full marathons and my goal is to do one in all 50 states and D.C. I've checked off Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Illinois, Alaska, and D.C. I can now proudly say, "I AM a runner."
If you are a non-runner and would like to start putting one foot in front of the other check out www.birminghamtrackclub.com for details on the "Couch" program.
God Bless and always remember that life is a marathon, not a sprint.
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