Want to Run!

ajff

OP - I was you a year ago, almost.

I had been walking for a month or so and just wanted to burn more calories! So I went to the back of a storage facility where no one could see me and started counting how many garage doors I could run past. It was pitiful distance. Like less than 5.

All summer long I would take walks and go past the storage facility and as long as no one was there getting their crap, I would try running around the back building. By the end of the summer I could go around it twice, circle back and do it again.

In January, I was much lighter (about 215ish?) and I begin C25K on the treadmill. When the weather got nicer, I began running outside where people could see me (with sunglasses (b/c like 2 year old, if they can't see my eyes then they can't really see me!) and earbuds so I could block out as much of the world as possible!). Note - going from treadmill to real world running is different; outside is way more interesting but harder, I slipped back 2-3 weeks in the program, but ultimately prevailed; by April I was running a full 5K.

3 MUST-DOs: 1. A good sports bra, the best $50 I ever spent, 2. GOOD running shoes, best $150 I ever spent. 3. Pay attention to your body. If something hurts/is achey... read up about proper warm-ups and stretches. I am friends with a HS Cross Country coach and his advice about proper stretching afterwards and taking my time in the process has been invaluable.

Good luck, runner! You'll get there!

sdcupples

I'm an overweight running newbie. Having a running buddy helps, but since we've started we've noticed that most people are cheering us on instead of tearing us down. Running is something a lot of people can't do overweight or not and good people respect anyone who is trying.