What made you start running?

jojo52610

because my Gym closed down so had to do something for excercise - was an ex- smoker until I built up endurance it was awful - could barely make it a block. Now I love it give me time to unwind and think

Jellyphant

To lower my stupid blood pressure.

ashlinmarie

I ran so I could eat more. Walking was becoming too time consuming LOL.

^^This! Walking wasn't doing it for me anymore, so I had to pick up the pace...

I'm with these two. I could either being walking on an incline at a super fast pace forever or just start running.

So I picked up C25K and will be doing week 2 day 2 tomorrow.

Plus I've always hated running, so I want to see if I can actually enjoy it.. haven't gotten totally there yet, but I do feel pretty awesome when I complete a day of C25K.

Do you run on a treadmill or outside? I started running outside for week 3 and now I love it more with every run!

TinaA72

After having my first child in 2011 (at age 38) I wanted to lose the extra baby weight and walking just wasn't doing it for me anymore. So, I found the C25K program and started running. It was definitely a chore at first! The first week I had shin splints and could barely run a minute. Now, I can run 3 miles nonstop. I've done 2 5k's and hope to do more this year. Everyone's stories are such an inspiration to me! I've gotten a little off track with my running program and am eager to restart especially after reading your stories both encouraging and funny! Thanks for your messages...

MauC25K

I ran so I could eat more. Walking was becoming too time consuming LOL.

^^This! Walking wasn't doing it for me anymore, so I had to pick up the pace...

Yes! Yes! No other exercise was doing it for me anymore. If I run, I lose weight. If I don't, I don't.

jeffrodgers1

My ex-wife... started running and she still hasn't found me! (Rimshot please?)

Seriously... I started to run when I was publicly humiliated at Disney world. How the world's happiest place can be so insensitive to call someone up on a stage and publicly make fun of their weight is beyond me? I will never take my wife and kids their again. I was humiliated, embarrassed and really thought about suing them for it.

During my flight home from Florida, I had several hours to think... I realized I could blame Disney all I wanted, but I myself needed to prove them wrong. I also concluded that the largest fat burning muscles in the body were the legs.

When I came home, I purchased a WII, and a Treadmill and 4-5 years later, 100 pounds lighter, and close to 5000 miles run, I coach other beginning runners on how to get started.

ryno0618

I had always enjoyed running and playing team sports. After knee surgery when the doc said "I shouldn't" run it deflated me for a few years and I got away from exercise. Coming back was the best thing ever and Running is what I love. Don't let people tell you you can't do something.

dad106

I ran so I could eat more. Walking was becoming too time consuming LOL.

^^This! Walking wasn't doing it for me anymore, so I had to pick up the pace...

I'm with these two. I could either being walking on an incline at a super fast pace forever or just start running.

So I picked up C25K and will be doing week 2 day 2 tomorrow.

Plus I've always hated running, so I want to see if I can actually enjoy it.. haven't gotten totally there yet, but I do feel pretty awesome when I complete a day of C25K.

Do you run on a treadmill or outside? I started running outside for week 3 and now I love it more with every run!

Mostly out side.. Did 1 day of C25K on a treadmill, but god was that a pain the *kitten* flipping the dial every minute or so.

So much easier outside!

skinnyby30

I wanted to get in shape and i was not able to run at all my sis told me to do the 5k101 program and I am addicted to running now lol! Okay not really addicted but I make sure to run at least 2-4 times a week unless im sick I love it

skinnyby30

To prove to myself I could do it

Amazing Answer! I couldnt agree with you more

ashlinmarie

I ran so I could eat more. Walking was becoming too time consuming LOL.

^^This! Walking wasn't doing it for me anymore, so I had to pick up the pace...

I'm with these two. I could either being walking on an incline at a super fast pace forever or just start running.

So I picked up C25K and will be doing week 2 day 2 tomorrow.

Plus I've always hated running, so I want to see if I can actually enjoy it.. haven't gotten totally there yet, but I do feel pretty awesome when I complete a day of C25K.

Do you run on a treadmill or outside? I started running outside for week 3 and now I love it more with every run!

Mostly out side.. Did 1 day of C25K on a treadmill, but god was that a pain the *kitten* flipping the dial every minute or so.

So much easier outside!

I agree! Running outside is easier and I lose myself more and just keep going. Plus, it is easier to push myself to keep going! You'll get there eventually! I know today was my best run yet....I made it through the C25K portion with ease and just couldn't stop!

Sister_Someone

I started just to try it out, see if I could and if I'll like it. For the record, I can but I don't like it at all. But that's hardly news for me, so I suck it up and keep going because it's time efficient and does wonders for my lung capacity and the shape of my legs.

bluefox9er

simply because I have no earthly business being a runner. I'm just not supposed to run or be a runner. i had 3 abortive attempts at c25k, but this time, saw it through to the end. but seriously...me a runner? that's as unlikely as Osama Bin Laden getting a nobel peace prize. even my family and those closest to me are stunned.

vsecret921

I had no reason NOT to run. i just started the other day the c25k program. I love it! i was laying in bed the other morning around 615 an was on Facebook and saw a few of my friends posted that were going for their morning run. As i turned on the tv I thought to myself I really should go run, but I'll do it tomorrow. Then I sat up turned off the tv and got a little mad at myself and thought "I know myself, tomorrow will NEVER come!" So I got outta bed downloaded the c25k podcast and off I went.... for the past few days I couldn't wait to get up to go run


...oh yeah and my husband and I are going to Mexico in Feb - a little added motivation

moran1917

I never made a decision to start running. My parents put me in soccer when I was 6 years old. To play soccer means to run. As I got better and better at soccer and started playing for regional and then provincial teams the amount of running at practices and games got to be large. Many times we would run 10km and then practice. When we started doing track and field in grade school you had to pick which races you would try. Well I have never been fast and due to soccer was a runner so I chose the longer distances like 800 meters and 1500 meters. The track coach then asked me to run 5 and 10 km races for the school in the off season and I really liked it.

I stopped running due to a health problem. When I was finally able to work out again the first thing I wanted to do was run.

brimarie95

I started running becuase the P90X cardio was getting boring, the weather started to get nice, and my dog is fat. She has lost 9 lbs and I have lost 21. Win, win.

arw4

I started running because my dad is a runner, and I wanted to do XC and track.

MoreBean13

I'm bumping to keep the stories coming! I know there's more runners out there, and everyone has a story. I find all the stories so motivational!

cakesmooth

Because I'm cheap! I live in So Cal and the weather is almost always good enough for a run. All I need to burn some calories is a decent pair of running shoes. I've been running for most of my life now.

vade43113

I only started last week... but like most things in my life... I wanted to see if I could do it. I did it, now I love it

MoreBean13

Because I'm cheap! I live in So Cal and the weather is almost always good enough for a run. All I need to burn some calories is a decent pair of running shoes. I've been running for most of my life now.

Sooooo Jelly of the SoCal weather! We have freezing snow bound winters, rainy spring and hot humid summer. We get like 8 or 9 nice days in the fall though usually!

cakesmooth

Because I'm cheap! I live in So Cal and the weather is almost always good enough for a run. All I need to burn some calories is a decent pair of running shoes. I've been running for most of my life now.

Woops, I didn't answer the question. I was cafeteria monitor in 6th grade and was sneaking a few extra chocolate milk cartons and lunches every day. My mom gave me, her fat 10 year old, a sports bra and biker shorts for Christmas. I'm not a very sensitive person and not only was I not hurt but like most women I was excited to work out in my new excercise outfit. The family brought me along to a large park and instead of observing animals like I usually did I took off walking. Walking quickly became easy so I started to run and haven't stopped.

antonette15

I started running as a way to challenge myself. I lost weight by walking, but was getting a little bored with it. Plus, it burns a lot more calories! I was never a runner, so when I started doing it, I had to start from square one. I would run for a minute and walk for a minute, I did this repeatedly for an hour. Now, I am able to run for 80 minutes straight!

utes09

Wanting to prove that my crappy lungs couldn't stop me.

I was born three months premature and my lungs weren't fully developed so I had oxygen for the first few months. Once I got married and graduated college I knew I needed to be more active so I worked myself up to being able to run around my apartment complex and kept pushing myself.

I finished my first half marathon April 21, 2012 about four years after I seriously started running.

Athena413

Peer pressure. I had friends/co-workers that ran and looked great and I wanted to be like them and not just watch them! Plus I was 290# and knew I needed to make a positive change!

dvisser1

I've run at times in the past when I had friends to run with, but more for the social aspect than the exercise. Friends stopped going and I dropped running entirely.

This time, I'm running because I want to. Beginning of the year I could not run. My knee would buckle at the impact of my foot strike on the ground. Tell me I physically can't do something and I will want it so bad I will find a way. This time I had to prove to myself that I could get back in shape and proving that I could get my legs strong enough to run has been a big part of that. To make sure I stuck with it I signed up for a 5k on July 7th. I got strong enough to run and run good distance a lot faster than I figured, so I ran my first 5k on June 23rd. It was a trail run on relatively flat ground that I finished in 27:16.

Still signed up for the July 7th 5k and want to finish faster than before. I'm also looking to sign up for a 10k or two later this summer and Fall to keep myself motivated.

MoreBean13

Peer pressure. I had friends/co-workers that ran and looked great and I wanted to be like them and not just watch them! Plus I was 290# and knew I needed to make a positive change!

Awesome! You should keep an eye out for the "am I too heavy to run?" threads and tell them what's what!

MoreBean13

I've run at times in the past when I had friends to run with, but more for the social aspect than the exercise. Friends stopped going and I dropped running entirely.

This time, I'm running because I want to. Beginning of the year I could not run. My knee would buckle at the impact of my foot strike on the ground. Tell me I physically can't do something and I will want it so bad I will find a way. This time I had to prove to myself that I could get back in shape and proving that I could get my legs strong enough to run has been a big part of that. To make sure I stuck with it I signed up for a 5k on July 7th. I got strong enough to run and run good distance a lot faster than I figured, so I ran my first 5k on June 23rd. It was a trail run on relatively flat ground that I finished in 27:16.

Still signed up for the July 7th 5k and want to finish faster than before. I'm also looking to sign up for a 10k or two later this summer and Fall to keep myself motivated.

That is an AWESOME 5K time, regardless of your injury! Keep on truckin!

kenmunson333

I started running one day when I realized that walking on the treadmill at the gym, even at 4 mph with an incline of 15% just no longer felt like it was burning enough calories in the time I had to spend there. So I started running and now run 5-6 miles a day, sometimes more.

giggles7706

I have always wanted to run. I was always worried that I wouldn't be able to do it. The first time I attempted running, I couldn't run for more than 10 seconds. It was a horrible experience but an eye opener. And kinda discouraging. I was so disappointed in myself but then I knew I was gonna get myself in shape so that I could run. It was a challenge to myself. I wouldn't call myself a runner - no matter how bad I want to. I can now run for 5 minutes at a time. Slowly building myself to run a 5k. And it's a wonderful stress reliever. I never thought I would consider running my me time.