I WAS an out of shape firefighter and couldn't run the length of a football field without getting winded (also an ex-girlfriend runs and she motivated me to run) a year and a half ago. Started running and my first race was the Cooper River Bridge Run (10k). Last weekend I finished my first 1/2 marathon and will continue running for as long as I can.  Since completing the 1/2, my daughter who is 11, is now motivated to start running so I am anxiously awaiting the first 1/2 we can do together!

I run because I can and when I don't I get mean.  Ask anyone who has to deal with me after 2 days of not running.     Running keeps me sane and gives me much needed alone time...or quality time with my dog.  Running keeps me fit...even if I could stand to lose 10lbs.  Running is hard and when I'm done I feel better for it.  Running is universal....you can do it ANYWHERE!  Oh....and the cute shoes and running clothes!! 

I do not come from a long line of fit people.  I, myself have struggled to stay active.  No matter what my fitness level is I know there is always room for improvement and all it needs to start with is me lacing up my sneakers!

good for you!!! i feel the same way that a mother shouldn't take the excuses that she has kids to let herself gain weight and not taking care of herself.

it is true in the other hand, life is challenging and having kids is not easy especially when your husband doesn't  help you.

so i won't be to hard on the other mothers i will just tell them that, they will feel so good if you will go out there to walk, run and be healthy

b/c your kids need a healthy mother. it is true sometimes our schedule with work, kids, home it's very hard to squeeze one hour for ourself, so everyone

should check is own schedule and try to squeeze one hour or two a week for start. good luck to everyone and if you are the kind to be too cold with the cool weather

coming soon go to the gym or exercise home there is so much web with good exercises.

PS: i saw this comment in cafemom.com are you one of the runners there?

all the best to you.

angel770

I don't have a tear-jerking, emotional story like some people on here...I just started when I was a kid in 1st grade. My Dad was a machine, running in high school and college (he's currently completed 22 marathons, with a PR of 2:34), and I just wanted to be like him. I ran all through grade school, middle school, junior high, and high school. Now I'm 20 years old, in college and still going strong. Unfortunately, my Dad is 52 and has had 2 knee surgeries (in the past 3 months), so he's had to take a long break from running. Hopefully he can get back into it in a couple more months.

It's somewhat depressing that my college currently doesn't have a Track/XC team, so I'm pretty much training on my own, and volunteering as a part-time coach at the local high school. I'm trying to drop my 5k time so I can nail a scholarship (I'm transferring after this year), then I can get back to my true loves of the 800 and 1500. My 5k PR right now is 16:29, but my training is going great, and I have a race in 2 weeks for which I am on pace to break 16 minutes. Next summer I should be in the 14's.

I'm one of those people who just have a natural ability to run, and I'm really, really good at it. It's a real inspiration to hear the stories of people who DON'T have that natural ability, yet push through anyway. Sometimes people tell me I'm an inspiration to them, and that's great...but know that you are at least as much of an inspiration to us fast people, if not more so.

Andy

I was forced too! I'm a ski racer with nothing to do in the summer and fall and got a call about a month ago from one of my ski racing buddies. She told me we were going to relay in a marathon and all I had to do was run 5 miles. Cool. How hard could that be??? Went out in my beat up old walking shoes and "ran" 2.5 miles and darn near crippled myself. I literally couldn't walk for a day afterwards. So I started reading up on this whole running thing and realized I would never be ready in 4 weeks to run five miles. I tried to bailout on the relay team but those gals wouldn't let me. So off I went to the running store, bought a pair of real running shoes and started training. I love to compete, winning is better, but just showing up for a race is great. The day of the race was great, the comraderie, the excitement and the fact that I didn't completely embarass myself hooked me. I'm "running" in my first 5k in a few weeks.

I grew up on a farm and had the opportunity to play one sport and the sport was football.  I played beginning at the age of 8.  As a freshman in high school, I as on the small side for football but kept after the sport that I loved playing.  During summing sessions, I remember watching the cross country team do laps of "indian running"  around the football field while we were practicing and thinking that they were crazy, who would want to do that as a sport.  I soon found out that the football team always ended Thursday's practice with a mile run on the track with full gear.  I remember all of the upperclassmen complaining how much of a pain in the a@@ it was and I had the same thought in my head before we did it.  After running two of the four laps, I found myself keeping up with the star senior on the team.  I thought to myself, "Hey, this isn't that bad" and I pushed to try to beat the him.  I didn't but after a few weeks, the other seniors started to box me during the first few laps because "this freshman" was always finished 2nd or 3rd on the team and the coach would be yelling at the upperclassmen about letting a freshman beat them.

During my sophomore season, I was the top kid during our mile runs.   One day, the cross country coach was around the track at the end of our practice.  After "winning" the mile, he came over to me and told me that I was going to run track in the Spring.  I told him my situation at home and said that I didn't think I could.  I went home and talked to my parents.  They said no, because they couldn't take the time to pick me up from practice in the spring due to the spring planting.  My brother, who had graduated a few years earlier told my parents that he would pick me up from practice and as the say, the rest is history. I gave up football my junior year to join the cross country team and I qualified for states in the mile and in cross country my senior year.

Unfortunately, I didn't continue my career in college, but after graduation, marrage, two kids and a divorce, I needed something to take my mind off of my problems and returned to running.  I met a special woman (whom I married 4 years ago) that also has running in her blood, she has been running since 7th grade.  That was ten years ago and I qualified for Boston in the Marine Corp Marathon in Oct 07 in my first try at qualifying at the age of 42.  I will be running Boston in 09 and hope to greatly improve over my 3:17 at the MCM.

My wife and I now run at least one marathon per year along with several 1/2 marathons.  We are working towards the 50/50 club.  We probably will never acheive the goal, but we are having fun.