What did it take to get you running?

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  • johnwhitent
    johnwhitent Posts: 648 Member
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    I am a cyclist at heart but cycling has more limitations with weather, travel, time, etc. Running offers power packed workout that can be done in just about any weather, in any location, and can work well with limited time. Both cycling and running use the legs, but use them in different ways and focus on some different muscle groups so they make perfect cross training compliments to one another. All in all, it's a great activity.
  • ASaxe23
    ASaxe23 Posts: 163
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    I have no idea....I started 2 weeks ago...I guess there are several factors that got me running.
    1. My husband ran a marathon I was in awe and inspired he's always been fit, but seeing him and then so many others of many shapes and sizes got me thinking maybe I could too.
    2. I started Insanity and heard the stories of how it increases your cardiovascular endurance for running.
    3. It burns a lot of calories in a short amount of time
    4. I hate it., but I was tied of giving myself so many excuses not to do it, so I thought what the heck let's try one of these apps and see if it can get me running. I put it on my bucket list and thought I'd give it a whirl. so far I'm impressed with myself !
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
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    Because it was something I couldn't do.
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
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    Raising money for a charitable org that looked after my mum during her illness and before she died of cancer...(St. Peter's Hospice in Bristol UK) I did a 5 km, a 10 km and a half marathon all in the same year.

    p.s. I am not a natural runner and it is a REAL challenge, but that is half the fun ; )
  • montana_girl
    montana_girl Posts: 1,403 Member
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    I started running so I could participate in one of the Run Disney events. The guidelines are that you have to be able to do a 16 min/mile, and I knew with my short little legs that would require me to do at least a little running. A little running led to more running, which led to a lot of running.

    I have completed 4 Run Disney half marathons and will be completing my 10th half marathon on the 20th. :drinker:
  • newcs
    newcs Posts: 717 Member
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    I've found that I can burn more calories in less time with running than anything else (biking, rowing, lifting, etc) so I do it so I can eat more :)

    I still lift most days because I want the strength gains but when I'm looking for maximum calories burned, I go for running.
  • shivaslives
    shivaslives Posts: 279 Member
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    I wanted to do cardio outside and I don't like to bike. It also took learning a mid-foot strike so I could run with a bad back.
  • stefa711
    stefa711 Posts: 196 Member
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    A drill sergeant....:wink:

    Joined the Army over 12 years ago. They'll motivate you plenty.

    Can you please tell my Soldiers that?? They seem to have missed the "motivation" part of basic!!
  • ASaxe23
    ASaxe23 Posts: 163
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    my 1st 5k is on the 20th this month. It's not an official timed one, but it still counts. It's The Glo Run!
  • tessaeve
    tessaeve Posts: 75 Member
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    Laziness, I was walking and increasing my miles but it took too much time. I started running to get my workout in quicker so I could go home and veg out and found that I enjoyed it.
  • MsBobLoblaw
    MsBobLoblaw Posts: 171 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    a divorce
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
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    a bear chasing me
  • mjpTennis
    mjpTennis Posts: 6,165 Member
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    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.

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