I’ve never, ever been a runner. Even when I ran (ok, there was a lot of walking) a half marathon for charity. I never enjoyed running for the sake of running. I love playing basketball and other sports that have a strong element of running, but never liked running. Running wasn’t in my comfort zone. It may have been that I wasn’t able to run very far/long without having to stop and walk; which makes me feel like a loser. It may be that I have a perception that runners have a culture unto themselves and are a bit snobbish about it (I feel the same way about cyclists as I tried to enter a cyclocross event one time and was told not to enter…different story for a different day). The bottom line is that running has never felt right for me.

Losing weight and getting healthy is not an easy task. One reason its not easy is that you must step outside of your comfort zone to accomplish the goal. From eating different to disrupting your schedule to get gym time in. Everything is new, new means change and change is outside of comfort zones. I’ve lost anywhere from 46 to 55 pounds depending on the day (and how much sodium I’ve consumed) but I’ve stalled a bit in losing more weight. I have maintained my weight loss, thankfully, but haven’t lost more because I have confined myself to my comfort zone (which is a different comfort zone than when I was overweight. As I formed new and healthy habits, those habits became my new comfort zone). To lose the weight I want and to hit my goal weight, I must get out of my comfort zone and do things that I wouldn’t usually do. Enter running.

Its only been two days since I picked up running, but my experience in those two days have opened my eyes to a whole new world of fitness. Two very enjoyable days of running have me wondering why I didn’t try running before. I ran two miles each day without stopping to walk. This feels like a huge accomplishment to me and drives me to want to run more to see how far I can push myself. I can’t take all the credit and say that I started running solely in the name of fitness. My sister-in-law Lindsey pretty much made me sign up for a 5k event that has pushed me to run. And while I was on the fence about participating at first, I am now pumped for these events and looking forward to them. A 5k isn’t too far of a distance, but seemed daunting when I haven’t run even 1k since I was a kid!

Getting out of my comfort zone has given me a sense of awareness that I haven’t had previously. I am now aware that I can do and accomplish things that are outside of my comfort zone…things that will make me better!