10 Miles today I think I earned bragging rights!

Back when I was in high school I was very active. I played field hockey, ice hockey, lax, did rock climbing and even tried dance even though I'm about as graceful as an elephant.

But the one thing I always hated was RUNNING. There was a run my coaches called a "School Boy" which was a 1.5 mile run around campus. And I DREADED it. I would get awful side stitches, stomach pains, chest pains and be gasping for breath. I thought running was stupid and boring and something I'd just never be able to do because I had asthma.

Eventually running became something I simply COULD NOT do. When I was 16 I began to severely restrict my food intake. By the time high school graduation rolled around I could barely walked to my classes let alone run anything close to a mile. I was severely underweight and really just on the road to killing myself.

I've been in and out of recovery for the past 6 years and for the most part I've maintained a healthy weight on the higher end of average for my height/size but healthy nonetheless. People always encouraged me to get into running, several members of my family run in the Boston Marathon and many more run half marathons, 5K's and 10K's and all f them had nothing but good things to say about running.

I still hated the idea of running and preferred to get my exercise using the elliptical and playing hockey. Then the summer before this past one I tore my Achilles tendon. It was excruciating. I couldn't stand up, let alone do any form of exercise. I gained 35 pounds and was at my highest weight of almost 160 pounds which on my small 5'2 frame is quite a bit, especially the gain in only a few months. A big part of this was due to screwing up my metabolism so badly with my eating disorder. The rest of it was due to being depressed and indulging in food and alcohol to deal with that.

When I finally got the clear from my doctor for exercise I started back with my typical hockey once or twice a week or the elliptical at the gym but I just wasn't seeing results. I would occasionally hop on the treadmill a 6.0 pace and be gaping for breath at half a mile, always having to slow down and stopping after about a mile and a half. I have asthma so I would be gasping for breath with severe pain.

In April I went through something very difficult in my personal life and I started taking refuge in running I started off small 1-2 miles at a slow pace but slowly I started to actually ENJOY running. It served as an escape for me. It was a time where I could just be alone with my music without having to focus on everything going on my life the stress of graduate school and work and money and personal hardships.

By July I was running 5 miles at a time at a 6.0 minute mile pace. By September I had this up to 7.0.

I gave up alcohol 2.5 weeks ago and since doing so I have run a total of 36 miles since including TEN MILES TODAY. I ran at a 6.0 mile pace and didn't stop once (Okay ONCE to tie my shoe but it so doesn't count!) I'm a little but sore, and I've got a couple blisters from my new shoes but it feels so good to reach a new goal!

I NEVER would have though it would have been possible for me to run a whole mile, let alone 3 miles or 5 miles but TEN MILES? I would have thought you were bat s*** crazy for even suggesting that was even a remote possibility for me. In fact the fact that I did it still hasn't quite sunk in!! I keep expecting to wake up and find out it was a dream...

I am so thankful today for my strong, healthy, SOBER body that isn't worn down by the effects of alcohol or starving myself. When I was within my eating disorder this NEVER would have been possible even if I wanted it to be, and it would have been extremely difficult if I'd continued to drink in the way that I was.

I have a long way to go but someday I hope to run in the Boston Marathon, it seems like an impossible goal but so did the prospect of every running more then a mile.

I am running in my first official 5K on October 27th and someday hope to build up to a 10K and Half Marathon official race. It's still baffles my mind that I the girl who HATED running and just thought I'd never run have become a runner, sometimes I try and tell myself "Well you're not really a runner, you're a jogger" but today for the first time I actually felt like maybe after all I really am a REAL runner.

I'm not normally one to brag but I just thought maybe if I shared my story it would help or inspire someone out there