I just want to start this blog with a huge disclaimer...I am NOT an athlete! I would hate for anyone to get the wrong impression and think I am one of those 6 foot, muscle and bone type, who look like they were born with a pair of Asics on their feet. I am 5 foot 1 inch and in the best shape of my life I ran an 8 minute mile. But I love the challenge I get from running. I love they way I can loose myself in my music and the rhythm of my feet hitting the ground.
After not running for about 8 years, I decided to try to take it up again a couple of years ago. I knew it would be somewhat hard. I had gained some weight, but I had also lost some and continued walking pretty regularly throughout the years. So I tried to run, but whenever I did I got excruciating pain in my calves that would take a couple of weeks to recover from. This went on for a couple of years. I went through physical therapy twice. The last time, the therapist told me he didn't know what more they could do. He said I might just have to accept that running and high impact exercises were not possible for me anymore. I was not okay with that. I had an MRI done. It showed that my muscles were deteriorating, but the orthopedist didn't seem overly concerned. Something happened to me that day. I got tired with people telling me what I could and could not do. I decided that day that I was not going to be weak anymore. For the last year I have been going to the gym with my husband almost every day at 5 a.m. We have been lifting weights, doing cardio, and doing boot camp once a week. I cried the first boot camp because I couldn't even finish all of the jumping jacks during the warm up. I can do that now!! I am now starting to run again so here we go my friends.......
