Share your running success stories!

remmus102

Hi! I’m a beginner runner and I’ve been looking for a little inspiration lately. Anyone have any empowering stories?

JessicaMcB

I grew up hating running (due in no small part to my abnormal gait from an ortho issue attracting attention) and basically lived a completely sedentary life all the way into adulthood. I didn't get fed up with my fat *kitten* until after I'd had my third baby in three years but when I decided I was over it, I got it together. I lost all the weight inside of 7 months and decided I would try running because HIIT was misery and eff lifting.

In the beginning it was embarrassing how slow my pacing was and my endurance was absolutely zero. Thankfully I am hard headed as they come, so I kept at it. Now, a year and half on, I run in roughly the top 25th percentile for women my age. My primary distance love is the ultramarathon. I've placed on races of half distance and on 50 miles. I've recently been published in Women's Running (http://womensrunning.competitor.com/2017/11/real-runners/50-mile-race-real-runner_83393) and have previously been featured by organizations such as Run Like a Girl. And all of that because I refused to accept failure and kept putting one foot in front of the other (literally Haha!).

Running is 99% a mental sport- fortify your mind and you will be limitless! If you are looking for a fun accountability group there is a Running Challenge group here on MFP, would love to see you there

kt26

Wow JessicaMcB what an awe-inspiring story you have! If that doesn't give a 'little inspiration' to OP as requested I'm not sure what will.. Congrats on ur accomplishments.

tlsb2016

Wow, JessicaMcB - thanks for the inspiration and advice. Like remmus102, I just started running, first on the treadmill (which can get boring) and yesterday ran on the street for the first time. Much more interesting and challenging! Good to know that my stubbornness can come in handy. I’ll keep at it and see where it takes me (literally and figuratively!).

JessicaMcB

kt26 wrote: »

Wow JessicaMcB what an awe-inspiring story you have! If that doesn't give a 'little inspiration' to OP as requested I'm not sure what will.. Congrats on ur accomplishments.

tlsb2016 wrote: »

Wow, JessicaMcB - thanks for the inspiration and advice. Like remmus102, I just started running, first on the treadmill (which can get boring) and yesterday ran on the street for the first time. Much more interesting and challenging! Good to know that my stubbornness can come in handy. I’ll keep at it and see where it takes me (literally and figuratively!).

Thank you . @tlsb2016 if you have trail near you you should try that too if you're comfortable. I run almost exclusively tech trail, it is an experience and privilege unique in life to be able to fly trail

SusanDSME

I'm a new runner (started September 19, my late dad's birthday). I never thought I would run, as I was born with a congenital foot deformity that made it painful to even walk a mile. Running was out of the question. At 27, I had life-changing surgery to rebuild my foot. During my 3 month recovery, I read an article about a woman who started to run later in life, and decided I wanted to run a 5k someday. I tried a 1 mile fun run a couple of years ago, with no preparation, and ended it gasping and miserable. It wasn't until this year, motivated by my 11-year-old who's on the cross-country team, that I started to run. I ran their 1.6 mile course with them with no preparation and no walking breaks, and wound up sore and discouraged. My favorite middle-school English teacher, who later became a running trainer, volunteered to train me. I decided I wanted to run a 5k on Mother's Day. It took until late October before I could run a mile. But now, I've suddenly stretched out from 2 miles to 3.1 in just a week. Now she's talking about working up to 4 miles.

I'm still slow, but I have endurance. And if I can do it, you can do it!

swebb1103

I started running last year at 44 - my first 5k was 48 minutes. I had walkers passing me. But I refused to quit and started working on distance. I've done 2 half marathons now, and am gearing up for a full in April, then will be starting obstacle races after that. I had the first anniversary of my first 5k on Thanksgiving and my time dropped 10 minutes - still slow, but now that I know I can complete a half marathon, I don't worry as much about my time as I used to. It's all about the ability to finish!

kgb6days

I started running in my mid 50's. Never ran before, in fact DH and I would make fun of runners we saw on the streets with their grimace and sweat. I'm now 61. I've run 5Ks, 10ks, half marathons, and this past January ran a full marathon. I never thought I would be able to run over a mile. I've placed in my age group on the shorter races (benefit is not that many women run in my age group). Start short and slow. GET GOOD SHOES. Increase distance wisely. Don't worry about pace - that will come later. Get the distance first. If you can find a running partner - they are invaluable. Runners are the greatest people. Good luck. I'm pulling for you

seanevan10

I'm what you would call an "adult on-set runner." Haha. I am in a group that I found here on MFP. One that @JessicaMcB wows us on every day!!! She is awesome.

It gives me the motivation to keep getting out there. I used to run in the Navy because I had to. This year, I had to go into the hospital for major surgery and was the highest weight I have ever been! So at 41 (almost 42) I started to lose the weight. I started by just walking and then one day wanted to go faster. So I did Couch 2 5k and finished in Sept and ran my first 5K. Man was I slow. LOL. I did a Turkey trot on Thanksgiving and I am already 8 minutes faster. It comes with time. I am now down 50 lbs (about 1/2 to goal) and training for a Triathlon in March.

amgreenwell

I'm also an adult on-set runner. I always saw running as a punishment b/c the sports I played growing up...if you messed up you ran. So, until I was almost 40 I didn't run. I'd do anything else cardio but not running. Then one day I just got on a treadmill and started walking. Once I was confident doing that I started running, then I went outside and started running and never looked back. There is nothing like running outside and breathing that fresh air and just going until you are tired, then turning around and running back to where you started.
I've had two babies in the last two years and I'm going to get back to running as soon as my little one is sleeping through the night.
I love love love running and hope to never give it up.

justkeeprunning91

I also hated running growing up. My fastest mile time in high school was probably 11:45 or something. A little over two years ago, during my first year of law school, I decided I was going to do couch to 5k for real and slowly work towards my goal of eventually running the Disney Princess half marathon. I did my first 10k in October of 2015, and finished in about an hour and 8 minutes. I was thrilled. I kept racing, kept running and did run the Princess half in February of 2017. I finished in 2:26, and thought that I could have probably done better. I signed up for the Disney Wine and Dine Two Course Challenge (a 10k Saturday morning and a half marathon Sunday morning) to push myself a little harder and figured I would try to drop a little more weight to help. I lost about 35 pound between the Princess half and wine and dine weekend. I set a new 10k PR at 56:50 and shocked myself. The next morning I set a new half marathon PR of 2:12. This was the first weekend in November. Unfortunately, I now have a stress fracture in my foot and can't run for the next month or so. I'm really surprised how much I miss it but I know I need to rest in order to fully heal before I gear up for my spring races. I'm signed up for another half marathon in June and I've got my eye on a finish time under 2 hours. I know it might be a stretch, but I really can't wait to heal and get in some speed work this spring to try to make that goal a reality. I plan on running being a part of my life for the rest of my life and now really can't imagine my life without it.

Here's a comparison picture between my first 10k in October 2015 and the Wine and Dine Half in November. And, as a bonus, here's a finish line picture from the 10k at Wine and Dine. It's now one of my favorite pictures because I absolutely can't even explain how wonderful I felt when it was taken. Not to mention how I felt when I pulled out my phone and saw my finish time. It was so so so worth everything.

mandabeth34

This is a long, sad story, but it has a happy ending and I hope it serves to inspire. When I was thirty, I suffered my second pregnancy loss, at 5 months along. It had been a difficult pregnancy, and I was very sick, and would continue to have strange health issues for about a year after. I had also gained a lot of baby weight. Imagine having all the baby weight but no baby.
So there I was, no baby, unemployed, overweight, and sick. With little else to do at the time besides grieve, I decided to do C25K. My goal at the time was just to be able to run a half hour 3 days a week, simply for fitness. I had never run in my life, never even worked out consistently, although I was already a fairly healthy eater at the time.
I fell in love with running pretty quickly. To be honest, it helped that during those awful months, the fact that I was gaining this new skill- something I never thought I could do- was the only thing I found any joy in. I remember laying next to my husband at night silently sobbing, and concentrating on the memory of my run that day… rather, the feeling I accomplished what I had set out to do, and it was the only way I could fall asleep.
About halfway into C25K, I decided I’d “reward” my good work with a 5K at the end of my training. So about 3 months after I started running, I ran my first 5K with my husband crossing the finish line with me. At that point, I figured if I could run 3.1 miles, I could certainly run 6.2, so I started looking for my first 10K. It was around the 10K that I got a job with a great company that I’m still with today.
After the 10K, I figured, well, if I can run 6.2 miles, I can certainly run 13.1, so onto my first half marathon. This was 2011, things were looking up, but then that summer I had yet another pregnancy loss. This one was very early on, but I told myself that I’d give it one more shot and then I was done. I also kept devoting myself to improving my health, eating better (hi veggies!!), adding strength and cross-training into the mix, and running longer and faster. The weight kept coming off too. No longer overweight, I was working toward being in the best shape of my life.
So, you guessed it, once I finished my half marathon, I thought to myself if I could run 13.1 miles, I could certainly run 26.2. I signed up for my first marathon. Training was arduous, not to mention the race itself. It’s such a mental accomplishment, to keep your body in motion even though every fiber is telling you to stop. Still to this day, running towards and crossing the finish line was still the biggest natural high I have ever experienced.
I ran the marathon at the very beginning of 2012- that was a very good year. At that point I did NOT think I could certainly run any farther, so I kept up with half-marathons. In September, I PR’d my half marathon then two days later found out I was pregnant. Thanks to being in good shape, the AMAZING doctors I worked with, my employer-paid health insurance paying for my very expensive injections, and the mental grit I’d developed from running a marathon, 9 months later she came out screaming.
Fast forward to last month when I ran my first half-marathon since having my second child. I’m still working toward my ever-escalating fitness goals, and running is the foundation. My family is complete. It’s hard to overstate just how much running changed my life. Anyone considering C25K… It all starts with that first 60 second run!

DanerTee

You're all an inspiration and make we want to strap on my shoes and go for a run. Thank you! But, mandabeth34, your story had me literally in tears. I don't know you, but I feel SO happy that your story had a happy ending and thank you so much for sharing it with us. All the best to all of you!!