I Love Running.
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marcusisntfunny
Posts: 33
This is for the runners, or the people who are thinking about starting to run regularly. Brotip: Do it.
Because I freaking love to run.
I really do. To me, running is like crack to a cocaine addict. Or a nice, clean corvette to a pigeon flying overhead that needs to ****. Ok, bad examples. But I digress.
Running completely changed my life, in every sense of the phrase.
In March of this year, I was pushing 315, smoked a half a pack a day, and ate whatever I wanted. I was lazy, obese, constantly out of breath, unmotivated, and generally a complete waste of life. I played World of Warcraft 6 hours a day (more if I wasn't working) and could house an entire large papa john's pizza in one sitting, downing it all with a 2 liter of mountain dew. I always wore polo shirts to try to hide my manboobs, and my entire mindset about my lifestyle was "Well, I'm 6'4 and a big guy, that's just the way it's going to be." I couldn't hold a relationship, much less get any attention from the opposite sex, not only because of my physical state, but because I had zero confidence in myself and was always looking at the floor in bars.
To summarize, I was Jaba the Hutt in 2XL shirts and was a genuinely miserable person.
Now, I have no idea what motivated me back in early April, nor do I choose to continue to make up stories about what did, but I have somewhat of an idea. Something lit a fire under my unfortunately large *kitten*. All I can remember is that two events happened and I consider them turning points in my life.
The first one was coming home from a yearly EMS conference I went to with some friends. I had a great time, but after I got back the pictures started popping up on Facebook after a couple days. I remember looking at the ones of myself and thinking "Jesus, who the hell is that? That's not me. That CAN'T be me.." even though I had been in that shape for a while. I looked over the pictures of myself and realized that I was completely unhappy with the lifestyle that I had chosen.
The second (and larger) event of the two that happened, was that my mother was hospitalized for pneumonia. She was laid up for about a week, and during that time they found a large mass in her lung on an X-Ray. Initially, the doctor told us that it was cancer, but they would need to run some tests to be sure. I put on the best Man-face that I could, but as any son would be, I was in a bad state mentally. Worried, confused, angry, downright pissed off, all of the above. I felt something that I had only felt maybe once or twice before in my young life, and was truly afraid. After a few days, the results came back, and it wasn't cancer, just scarring from her COPD. I quit smoking the day the doctor told us.
Now, while completely unrelated from each other, I feel these two events were the ultimate spark that got me going. I started eating right. Chicken and broccoli, all day every day. But yet, I felt it wasn't enough to just count calories. I wanted more. I wanted to be doing something. I needed a hobby.
The first run I went on I will never forget. I was all "balls to the walls" about it and felt like I could conquer the world. That feeling lasted for about 50 yards before I was huffing and puffing so bad I felt like I was going to pass out. "Okay, maybe this will take some time." So I started walking. And walking. And walking some more. Because it's all I could do.
I stumbled upon the C25K (Couch To 5K) program after doing some reading online about fitness related things, and thought I'd give it a try. While I didn't follow it perfectly, I definitely graduated. And then some. And then I started experimenting. I learned about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and started learning some of the science behind running.
It took a couple months for my lungs to be able to handle sustained running, and also for the gunk to clear out from smoking. Looking back, I remember the first thing to slow me down was my breathing. Now, my muscles will burn and ache and scream "Dude knock it off we've had enough" long before I feel out of breath. And, since I'm still breathing, I usually wind up telling my legs to suck it up. They oblige, although they complain the next morning. Lately, they're always sore and yelling at me, and I love it.
Running to me has become the warm center of my universe that I can always fall back on.
****ty day at work? Grab a beer? Nah, screw that. Let's run through town and blow off some steam.
In an awesome mood? Great! Let's celebrate by breaking down your 5k time!
Bad luck with women? No worries. Put foot-to-pavement until you can't remember her name anymore.
No matter what life throws at me, when I run, it's just me and the road, sidewalk, forest trail, or whatever I'm going through.
As a matter of fact, as I type this, I just finished a short 2.2 mile run to burn off some energy I had from a nice relaxing day off.
I look at myself now, after only what, 4 or 5 short months, and think "Is it possible to make such a rapid turnaround?"
Apparently it is.
Some Q&A I've recently had and responded to:
Q: "Marcus, when are you gonna give this 'running' thing a rest?"
A: Death.
Q: "Marcus, running is bad for your joints you should use that elliptical thing"
A: No.
Q: "Marcus, I can't run because so-and-so-a-reason"
A: Sucks to be you, you're missing out.
That last one isn't meant to be as coldhearted as it sounds, but realistically, for some reason when people ask what my hobbies are, and the first one I list is Running, they feel compelled to explain to me why they can't. I don't care, I'm not preaching, to each their own, but you seriously are missing out."
My stress level is non-existent anymore, my confidence has skyrocketed. I'm more motivated, not a lazy slob, and wear large shirts with pride. I even reconnected with family that I hadn't seen in years, which I attribute (not entirely) to running, simply because if I hadn't had the self esteem boost that running gave me, I might never have had the balls to simply answer the phone. I'm enrolled back in college, with the ultimate goal of an MD, and have a "No limits" attitude about everything now. I love myself, and for the first time in my life am genuinely PROUD of everything I've done, and everything I plan to do in the future. I can literally say that I love my life and every second left of it.
All because one day, I put down the big mac, put on a 6 year old pair of beat up Asics, and took to the street with only one word repeating itself over and over again at max volume in my mind:
"Run."
Because I freaking love to run.
I really do. To me, running is like crack to a cocaine addict. Or a nice, clean corvette to a pigeon flying overhead that needs to ****. Ok, bad examples. But I digress.
Running completely changed my life, in every sense of the phrase.
In March of this year, I was pushing 315, smoked a half a pack a day, and ate whatever I wanted. I was lazy, obese, constantly out of breath, unmotivated, and generally a complete waste of life. I played World of Warcraft 6 hours a day (more if I wasn't working) and could house an entire large papa john's pizza in one sitting, downing it all with a 2 liter of mountain dew. I always wore polo shirts to try to hide my manboobs, and my entire mindset about my lifestyle was "Well, I'm 6'4 and a big guy, that's just the way it's going to be." I couldn't hold a relationship, much less get any attention from the opposite sex, not only because of my physical state, but because I had zero confidence in myself and was always looking at the floor in bars.
To summarize, I was Jaba the Hutt in 2XL shirts and was a genuinely miserable person.
Now, I have no idea what motivated me back in early April, nor do I choose to continue to make up stories about what did, but I have somewhat of an idea. Something lit a fire under my unfortunately large *kitten*. All I can remember is that two events happened and I consider them turning points in my life.
The first one was coming home from a yearly EMS conference I went to with some friends. I had a great time, but after I got back the pictures started popping up on Facebook after a couple days. I remember looking at the ones of myself and thinking "Jesus, who the hell is that? That's not me. That CAN'T be me.." even though I had been in that shape for a while. I looked over the pictures of myself and realized that I was completely unhappy with the lifestyle that I had chosen.
The second (and larger) event of the two that happened, was that my mother was hospitalized for pneumonia. She was laid up for about a week, and during that time they found a large mass in her lung on an X-Ray. Initially, the doctor told us that it was cancer, but they would need to run some tests to be sure. I put on the best Man-face that I could, but as any son would be, I was in a bad state mentally. Worried, confused, angry, downright pissed off, all of the above. I felt something that I had only felt maybe once or twice before in my young life, and was truly afraid. After a few days, the results came back, and it wasn't cancer, just scarring from her COPD. I quit smoking the day the doctor told us.
Now, while completely unrelated from each other, I feel these two events were the ultimate spark that got me going. I started eating right. Chicken and broccoli, all day every day. But yet, I felt it wasn't enough to just count calories. I wanted more. I wanted to be doing something. I needed a hobby.
The first run I went on I will never forget. I was all "balls to the walls" about it and felt like I could conquer the world. That feeling lasted for about 50 yards before I was huffing and puffing so bad I felt like I was going to pass out. "Okay, maybe this will take some time." So I started walking. And walking. And walking some more. Because it's all I could do.
I stumbled upon the C25K (Couch To 5K) program after doing some reading online about fitness related things, and thought I'd give it a try. While I didn't follow it perfectly, I definitely graduated. And then some. And then I started experimenting. I learned about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and started learning some of the science behind running.
It took a couple months for my lungs to be able to handle sustained running, and also for the gunk to clear out from smoking. Looking back, I remember the first thing to slow me down was my breathing. Now, my muscles will burn and ache and scream "Dude knock it off we've had enough" long before I feel out of breath. And, since I'm still breathing, I usually wind up telling my legs to suck it up. They oblige, although they complain the next morning. Lately, they're always sore and yelling at me, and I love it.
Running to me has become the warm center of my universe that I can always fall back on.
****ty day at work? Grab a beer? Nah, screw that. Let's run through town and blow off some steam.
In an awesome mood? Great! Let's celebrate by breaking down your 5k time!
Bad luck with women? No worries. Put foot-to-pavement until you can't remember her name anymore.
No matter what life throws at me, when I run, it's just me and the road, sidewalk, forest trail, or whatever I'm going through.
As a matter of fact, as I type this, I just finished a short 2.2 mile run to burn off some energy I had from a nice relaxing day off.
I look at myself now, after only what, 4 or 5 short months, and think "Is it possible to make such a rapid turnaround?"
Apparently it is.
Some Q&A I've recently had and responded to:
Q: "Marcus, when are you gonna give this 'running' thing a rest?"
A: Death.
Q: "Marcus, running is bad for your joints you should use that elliptical thing"
A: No.
Q: "Marcus, I can't run because so-and-so-a-reason"
A: Sucks to be you, you're missing out.
That last one isn't meant to be as coldhearted as it sounds, but realistically, for some reason when people ask what my hobbies are, and the first one I list is Running, they feel compelled to explain to me why they can't. I don't care, I'm not preaching, to each their own, but you seriously are missing out."
My stress level is non-existent anymore, my confidence has skyrocketed. I'm more motivated, not a lazy slob, and wear large shirts with pride. I even reconnected with family that I hadn't seen in years, which I attribute (not entirely) to running, simply because if I hadn't had the self esteem boost that running gave me, I might never have had the balls to simply answer the phone. I'm enrolled back in college, with the ultimate goal of an MD, and have a "No limits" attitude about everything now. I love myself, and for the first time in my life am genuinely PROUD of everything I've done, and everything I plan to do in the future. I can literally say that I love my life and every second left of it.
All because one day, I put down the big mac, put on a 6 year old pair of beat up Asics, and took to the street with only one word repeating itself over and over again at max volume in my mind:
"Run."
0
Replies
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Beautiful and inspiring. Thank you
:flowerforyou: 0 -
This is for the runners, or the people who are thinking about starting to run regularly. Brotip: Do it.
Because I freaking love to run.
I really do. To me, running is like crack to a cocaine addict. Or a nice, clean corvette to a pigeon flying overhead that needs to ****. Ok, bad examples. But I digress.
Running completely changed my life, in every sense of the phrase.
In March of this year, I was pushing 315, smoked a half a pack a day, and ate whatever I wanted. I was lazy, obese, constantly out of breath, unmotivated, and generally a complete waste of life. I played World of Warcraft 6 hours a day (more if I wasn't working) and could house an entire large papa john's pizza in one sitting, downing it all with a 2 liter of mountain dew. I always wore polo shirts to try to hide my manboobs, and my entire mindset about my lifestyle was "Well, I'm 6'4 and a big guy, that's just the way it's going to be." I couldn't hold a relationship, much less get any attention from the opposite sex, not only because of my physical state, but because I had zero confidence in myself and was always looking at the floor in bars.
To summarize, I was Jaba the Hutt in 2XL shirts and was a genuinely miserable person.
Now, I have no idea what motivated me back in early April, nor do I choose to continue to make up stories about what did, but I have somewhat of an idea. Something lit a fire under my unfortunately large *kitten*. All I can remember is that two events happened and I consider them turning points in my life.
The first one was coming home from a yearly EMS conference I went to with some friends. I had a great time, but after I got back the pictures started popping up on Facebook after a couple days. I remember looking at the ones of myself and thinking "Jesus, who the hell is that? That's not me. That CAN'T be me.." even though I had been in that shape for a while. I looked over the pictures of myself and realized that I was completely unhappy with the lifestyle that I had chosen.
The second (and larger) event of the two that happened, was that my mother was hospitalized for pneumonia. She was laid up for about a week, and during that time they found a large mass in her lung on an X-Ray. Initially, the doctor told us that it was cancer, but they would need to run some tests to be sure. I put on the best Man-face that I could, but as any son would be, I was in a bad state mentally. Worried, confused, angry, downright pissed off, all of the above. I felt something that I had only felt maybe once or twice before in my young life, and was truly afraid. After a few days, the results came back, and it wasn't cancer, just scarring from her COPD. I quit smoking the day the doctor told us.
Now, while completely unrelated from each other, I feel these two events were the ultimate spark that got me going. I started eating right. Chicken and broccoli, all day every day. But yet, I felt it wasn't enough to just count calories. I wanted more. I wanted to be doing something. I needed a hobby.
The first run I went on I will never forget. I was all "balls to the walls" about it and felt like I could conquer the world. That feeling lasted for about 50 yards before I was huffing and puffing so bad I felt like I was going to pass out. "Okay, maybe this will take some time." So I started walking. And walking. And walking some more. Because it's all I could do.
I stumbled upon the C25K (Couch To 5K) program after doing some reading online about fitness related things, and thought I'd give it a try. While I didn't follow it perfectly, I definitely graduated. And then some. And then I started experimenting. I learned about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and started learning some of the science behind running.
It took a couple months for my lungs to be able to handle sustained running, and also for the gunk to clear out from smoking. Looking back, I remember the first thing to slow me down was my breathing. Now, my muscles will burn and ache and scream "Dude knock it off we've had enough" long before I feel out of breath. And, since I'm still breathing, I usually wind up telling my legs to suck it up. They oblige, although they complain the next morning. Lately, they're always sore and yelling at me, and I love it.
Running to me has become the warm center of my universe that I can always fall back on.
****ty day at work? Grab a beer? Nah, screw that. Let's run through town and blow off some steam.
In an awesome mood? Great! Let's celebrate by breaking down your 5k time!
Bad luck with women? No worries. Put foot-to-pavement until you can't remember her name anymore.
No matter what life throws at me, when I run, it's just me and the road, sidewalk, forest trail, or whatever I'm going through.
As a matter of fact, as I type this, I just finished a short 2.2 mile run to burn off some energy I had from a nice relaxing day off.
I look at myself now, after only what, 4 or 5 short months, and think "Is it possible to make such a rapid turnaround?"
Apparently it is.
Some Q&A I've recently had and responded to:
Q: "Marcus, when are you gonna give this 'running' thing a rest?"
A: Death.
Q: "Marcus, running is bad for your joints you should use that elliptical thing"
A: No.
Q: "Marcus, I can't run because so-and-so-a-reason"
A: Sucks to be you, you're missing out.
That last one isn't meant to be as coldhearted as it sounds, but realistically, for some reason when people ask what my hobbies are, and the first one I list is Running, they feel compelled to explain to me why they can't. I don't care, I'm not preaching, to each their own, but you seriously are missing out."
My stress level is non-existent anymore, my confidence has skyrocketed. I'm more motivated, not a lazy slob, and wear large shirts with pride. I even reconnected with family that I hadn't seen in years, which I attribute (not entirely) to running, simply because if I hadn't had the self esteem boost that running gave me, I might never have had the balls to simply answer the phone. I'm enrolled back in college, with the ultimate goal of an MD, and have a "No limits" attitude about everything now. I love myself, and for the first time in my life am genuinely PROUD of everything I've done, and everything I plan to do in the future. I can literally say that I love my life and every second left of it.
All because one day, I put down the big mac, put on a 6 year old pair of beat up Asics, and took to the street with only one word repeating itself over and over again at max volume in my mind:
"Run."
BUMP0 -
I bumped your post so that I can read it again (and again and again) when I am a little less sleepy.
Major accomplishments...awesome job...and thankyou for sharing your inspiring story.
I started my running journey in February of this year...not quite so accomplished as you, yet...but I'm a lot older so I've been easing into it...but I am training for my first half marathon in October.
Congratulations!
Ellen0 -
Hehe...I get the "blow the joints out" thing all the time.
I also get told why they can't run...but it's not so much they can't, it's they have better things to do LOL.
But yeah, running rocks....I've been running since the middle of May....and I've run a 3.4 mile trail race, a 10k, and doing a 1/2 Marathon in October....against ALL PEOPLE who say I shouldn't and that I CAN'T!!
And today, ran 4 miles without stopping...I never did a C25K or anything, I just ran, but am now up to running 5.5-7.5 miles on my longer days and am increasing each week until my 1/2 Marathon.0 -
Keep up the good work.. I myself have found running to be a enjoyable and relaxing event. I have lost over 90lbs since jan 2010. I have run one 5 k race for a cancer charity and I am doing a 10k race in August. Hope to have many in the future. PRetty Hot here in las vegas so its slowed my outside running down a bit. I am preparing for my 10k inside with some morning runs mixed in. I knew I needed to get my weight off for many reasons. But I had a severe leg injury which caused me to have surgery with screws and plates so I knew getting the weight off was key to help my leg in the future. Plus after all the initial muscle pains and shortness of breath my knee is doing better then I expected.
I too get the same old excuses from people when I get asked how I lost the weight, all I am doing is telling them what worked for me. Some people just always got a book of excuses but you just got to go with what works for you.0 -
youre awesome!
NO EXCUSES =] !!
I<3RUNNiNG
every day-- just DO IT !0 -
Awesome. I don't know you, but I am totally proud of you! Keep it up and thanks so much for sharing!0
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WTG! What an awesome and inspiring story!
Congrats on making the changes.
Here's to enjoying every moment of your new life!0 -
KUdos, Dude!0
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I love to run as well!0
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WOW I quit smoking in March and I started C25K 4 weeks ago.
This is almost like my story...
Thanks for posting this, going to send you a friend request.0 -
ME TOO! I have just recently started running and can't agree with you more! My stress level has gone way down too. It does feel amazing and its what gets me to get up everday and just do it! Even the days that I think " i'm just too tired", thinking of how good the feeling is after running is what makes it an easier decision. I have made it a point every time I think in my head about running, calories, eating, or just recall particular times I was unhappy with what I was looking like or feeling like, I increase the treadmill by .1 everytime starting at 5.0. Up until now, I was always the person making the excuses, I tried on and off since January to "lose weight" and when I joined MFP, it is people such as yourself that helped me change my mindset over time. It's about changing your lifestyle. This past month has been a serious change and I thank you for your post. Very inspiring 0
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Beautifully written and so inspiring! I quit smoking a few days ago, and am just starting w5 of c25k (one habit had to go, and I wanted to keep running!) Reading your story tells me I CAN do it, and I WILL do it! Can't wait to be sharing my own inspirational story soon!0
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I'm so glad I decided to read this! Congrats on your progress, and thanks for the inspiration!0
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Love this! You are very inspiring. I too am addicted to running I am a bit old to be starting tho and my calves snap with alarming regularity.... When I can't run I'm miserable but your post cheered me BIG time, thank you x0
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LOVE your post. Inspired. Congrats on changing your life around! And thanks for sharing your story.
I ran today, my first real mile since grade school, did a [probably] horrible time, but felt GREAT. I want to do it again. And hopefully I'll get better at it.
Again, LOVE your post. Keep it up! Your story is changing lives. :flowerforyou:0 -
Wow glad I read this, it was my second day of C25K today and I hated every minute of it - mainly because I am so selfconsious as I am 210lbs and I think I trot rather than jog or run, I would be fine if no one was about haha. Anyway sticking with it after reading your post thanks0
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Great post! Congrats on such a turnaround!0
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Love it - A great story and well told!0
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Wow glad I read this, it was my second day of C25K today and I hated every minute of it - mainly because I am so selfconsious as I am 210lbs and I think I trot rather than jog or run, I would be fine if no one was about haha. Anyway sticking with it after reading your post thanks
Everyone has to start somewhere! I was 220lb when I started running in May! Just ignore the haters and keep doing your thang!0
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