What did it take to get you running?

2

Replies

  • MsBobLoblaw
    MsBobLoblaw Posts: 171 Member
    When discussing exercise with my PT while rehabbing from ACL reconstruction, I was told that jogging might be a challenge due to the surgery and a chronically bad ankle I have. I'm stubborn. All someone has to do is tell me I can't do something, and then I want to prove them wrong!
  • EdTheGinge
    EdTheGinge Posts: 1,616 Member
    I wanted to do something to maintain my weight which wasn't going to cost the earth. I've just completed 2 local halfs in Somerset, UK and found that I like beating people as well haha.

    First half 275th out of 813 = quicker than 538 other runners
    Yesterday 289th out of 990 = quicker than 701 other runners

    Not bad for someone who didn't start running properly until end of December.
  • reallymyBEST
    reallymyBEST Posts: 242 Member
    I started running out of anger! This, after dissolution of a relationship with a guy who was not good or good to me. The anger had to go somewhere, so I started C25k (at 228#). Every step was on his face!!! Took over two years of running for the anger to resolve itself. Now I run for different reasons. :)
  • djkern1
    djkern1 Posts: 3
    I just wanted to see if I could do it. I started with a c25k program and ran my first 5k last spring. I did 5 total last year. This year my goal is a 10k. I have to set goals to keep motivated. The calories burned is also a plus, but now I am fighting my way through shin splints. Oh well....gotta push through.
  • 1980karen
    1980karen Posts: 92 Member
    Seeing people bigger than myself out there doing it! If they can, then so can I is what I figured.

    me too!
  • mb168
    mb168 Posts: 4 Member
    Its a long, multi pronged story, but I started running because I hated cycling, which I started to do to lose weight and get in shape, in cold weather, so I would quit when it got cold and then wait too long to start back when it warmed up. I also had always had a desire to do a full marathon. I did a Disney 5k in 2010 and later that year Rock n Roll announced they were coming to my town so at 40, I decided I wasn't getting any younger and there was no time like the present to make it happen.

    I was still afraid of the distance, something that seems silly now, so I found a training plan by Art Liberman and in Jan 2011, started 10 months out, it was just a process that I realized I enjoyed with the huge satisfaction of finally finishing the marathon. Along the way I did a few more 5ks, then 2 really big 10ks, Cooper River Bridge run and Peachtree Road Race which are 2 of the biggest races in the country, then another RunDisney event, the Wine n Dine half, and then the full. I had a great time at all of them but rarely was I with someone I knew, I stood in corrals alone, I ran alone, and I finished alone. I wasn't as fast as my fast friends but I was faster than my slow friends. But at the marathon my dad rode his bicycle to just past the midpoint and was there on the side so I stopped and gave him a hug and took a pic and took off. He went to the finish where my wife and kids were so I finally had family at the end of a race to see me cross the line. It was amazing, all races should be like that. I'm also on Twitter and had huge support along the way all day, from friends tweeting me encouragement, I couldn't even respond to them all, many were friends of my friends that I didn't even know but they saw our common friend supporting me and they did the same.

    I took 2012 less seriously and foofed off all year, I think my brain disengaged and said "meh, you did it..." but I still signed up for races and at Rock n Roll 2012 I suffered a lot, I was not ready and it was too hot that day for my out of shape self. So I made the commitment then that I would do this right, again, because I wanted to see if I could break a certain time, so I've started my program again, a little wiser, far more confident, and in better shape.

    You want motivation to run, go do a RunDisney event! They are strict on the 16min pace but that's based on the last corral, every corral up from the end you have an extra 5 minutes. You can WALK a 16minute pace. Just sign up for a half marathon and then get out there and do it, without making excuses of why you can't, you'll quickly realize that distance really doesn't mean anything and the whole world will seem a little closer.
  • Amy_Andrews
    Amy_Andrews Posts: 106
    It's my "me time". Time away from kids, house work, the job, errands. I get to go outside and just run, that's all I do for 45 minutes - an hour.
  • datguy2011
    datguy2011 Posts: 477 Member
    a divorce
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    a bear chasing me
  • mjpTennis
    mjpTennis Posts: 6,165 Member
    I have never been a runner and was starting to work out through a fitness program at work. Soon after my daughter's middle school cross country team was doing a family vs kids 2 mile race. Couldn't pull this one out of my hat like I can with other sports. Realized how out of shape that I was. Since then my goal has been to catch up with my 12 year old daughter. Still working on it.

    Also found some connections on MFP to help inspire me to keep going and make it part of my exercise routine. Just finished another 5k this weekend and getting geared up for my first 10k in a couple of months. Shooting for a half marathon and a marathon this year too.
  • Melodypharmon
    Melodypharmon Posts: 56 Member
    To prove to others that I could.
  • Snapper1985
    Snapper1985 Posts: 124 Member
    My sister found a color run and my family went out and did it. From that point on I was determined to not feel like I was going to die doing something that loads of other people can do in 20 minutes with no problem. And now I'm hooked!
  • beckydragonpoet
    beckydragonpoet Posts: 50 Member
    I wanted to be able to outrun Zombies. Run a 5k with my niece and nephew and spend more time with my much more active sister. It has been amazing!

    As I've gone on I just realized while it is one of the hardest things I've done, it is also one of the most rewarding too. I get to accomplish goals all the time and it feels amazing!
  • raisingemilyjune
    raisingemilyjune Posts: 181
    I was obese and I wanted to prove I could do more than just lose weight. I wanted to show my dad that I wasn't a lost cause, so I started c25k loosly (as in, I barely followed to plan). I like feeling like I've accomplished something great.
  • benum21121
    benum21121 Posts: 200
    Police testing, physical agility training, and the potential opportunity to be on the NRC Composite Adversary Force. All of the previously listed items required not only running, but a large amount of weight to be lost on my behalf. So far, running has done a good job of that.
  • amytag
    amytag Posts: 206 Member
    When I became dedicated to changing my life and got the eating under control, I wanted to add in some exercise that was efficient. I was too broke to buy a gym membership but found that running burned more calories per minute than anything else I could do for free at home. So I downloaded C25K and did it. Then sometime last year, the running became more therapeutic than efficient, and I found it was my free time each day to relax, not think about anything else but the run, and I liked the solitude and constant challenges to get better. I like that I can compete with others or purely with myself. Races are super addictive, but I like the smaller ones, not the huge events like Color Run (which I did a few weeks ago and found it to be too social for me...going against one of the things I like best about running).
  • Hezzietiger1
    Hezzietiger1 Posts: 1,256 Member
    Im running a rugged maniac 5k. Hate running lovevobstacles...gotta run to get to the next obstacle lol
  • bacitracin
    bacitracin Posts: 921 Member
    I've never met a fat runner. That's why I run.
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    My grandpa had a double knee replacement and stroked out and passed. And he was in good shape.
    I'm in horrible shape, but I do it for my family so I can be around for them longer. That takes all the pain on shin splints, side stitches, not being motivated. None of that is an excuse, not ever.
  • ril0riley
    ril0riley Posts: 54 Member
    The first answer, 60 pounds ago, was that when I only had 30 minutes to spend at the gym, a workout on the treadmill earned me the most calories

    The second answer, after a few months getting used to the treadmill but still sure I "hated" running, was when I missed working out Thursday and Friday and was getting just anxious enough by the weekend to consider an outside run, which wound up being a discovery of miles of running trails through a beautiful forest right by my house

    I've loved it ever since
  • tzig00
    tzig00 Posts: 875 Member
    I have a very frustrating job and needed an outlet. I saw a bunch of friends running 5k's so I decided I wanted to try it. After walking my first one I wanted to be able to run it. I haven't gotten to that point yet but I will. The end goal is to do a triathalon. Also seeing my big butt on tv and knowing that it was being sent to every VW dealer as a training video helped motivate me to lose my big butt...
  • degan2011
    degan2011 Posts: 316 Member
    A zombie run that I heard about. No lie. :-)

    I also use the Zombies, run! 5k app. :-)

    ^^this^^ :)

    I ran some a few years ago (can't remember why I stopped really, but i did) then I did a run/walk with my son maybe every other weekend?? cuz he would bug me! haha! but then I found out about the Zombies, Run! app and I was intrigued... I got it and the zombies, Run! 5k app since I was fairly out of shape and thought I could use it. I love the app. I don't use it as often as I did because I am training for a 1/2 marathon in May, but for my fun runs I still use it. :)
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
    I run regularly, although I don't really like it. 5K seemed like a reasonable challenge and I do enjoy races. I finished C25K and now I have a weekly running partner (I run 1-2 other times per week by myself). It's just cardio I can do outdoors or inside with my own equipment (my legs). I guess it's just convenient. That aside, I think the reason I keep running is that I really don't like it and I feel like I've accomplished something if I get to my 3 miles doing something that bores the crud out of me and feels violent on my body.
  • sportzmom23
    sportzmom23 Posts: 103 Member
    7th grade pe teacher! I ran the pt course faster than everyone, she recruited me! Ran thru high school and the Navy, then fell out of it, tinkered once in a while, had hip issues, then plantar fasciitis. DH had a hip resurfacing last year, and I decided to start walking. It was taking too long for me, so my three mile walk turned into a mile walk, 2 mile run...pushed a bit too much, but remembered the great feeling, and am working back into it
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,783 Member
    The commitment to be a good, responsible pet owner.

    In December 2012, I lost my 8yo Rottweiler to chronic renal failure. I didn't think I wanted another dog, but the house was so empty without my four-legged baby. So I researched different breeds (after a large Rottie, I was thinking about a smaller breed). My husband and I settled on an Australian Cattle Dog. Knowing the breed is very high energy and requires lots of physical and mental stimulation/activity, I made a vow that if we got an ACD, I would HAVE to be able to run with her.

    We got Cora 6 wks ago. I started C25K for her. We walk 2x daily now, for about 25min each time. When she is ready to run (strong bones and mature enough, in about 9-10 more months), I will be ready to give her the exercise she needs. Cora is my motivation to run.
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    A small stroke in Nov. 2011, never seeing fat runners around here, runner's high & setting a goal to run for St. Jude's. OH YEAH, and YOU motivating me! Thank you!
  • deanna418
    deanna418 Posts: 103 Member
    I had never been into running and I wanted to push myself. I started the C25k app on my phone. I love it now but I still have days where it's harder then ever to get through it!
  • dtdam
    dtdam Posts: 20
    My 10 year old son. He wanted to run a 5k and there is no way I will let him run by himself in a race. I found a race that is kid friendly so we signed up. The best part is training with him, its something we do together. I personally hate running, but I have never completed a 5k, its great to see my son wanting to be physically active (how can I not support that) and I am hoping my older son will jump on the band wagon.

    The 5k is in June so right now we train together 1-2x per week. I take cycling 2x per week because I clearly need additional training for the cardio and endurance.
  • mrk1185
    mrk1185 Posts: 44 Member
    I was really inspired by one of my aunts who has been through a lot, and accomplished a lot running. I also wanted to pull myself out of a pretty dark place and get back to a place of confidence... Running helped me do that, but I'm not even close to having met most of my running goals for myself.

    I also read a ton of books on running which got me very excited and interesting in marathoning and pushing my body to new limits...
  • divinenanny
    divinenanny Posts: 90 Member
    Because it is something in which I am competing against myself. I'm doing 5K runner (C25K like program) and every time I am sure that this is the day I can't do it, and then I spend the running time convincing myself to just go one more minute, one more song, one more half-minute. And it feels like such an accomplishment whenever I finish :D
    And the high calorie-count doesn't hurt either :D

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