I've always considered myself to be an active person.
As a kid, I spent very little time parked in front of the television. After-school hours were instead consumed by pick-up games of hockey in the alley or baseball at the nearby school playground.
As the years went by, I found many different activities to keep me busy. I biked. I hiked. I kayaked. I took ice skating lessons and learned karate.
I have enjoyed doing just about every kind of activity there is.
Except running.
And it's not that I haven't tried. I've always admired my marathon-running friends, and I wanted to be a part of that elite group. So last fall/winter, I committed to going to the track every other day, sometimes waking up extra early and heading out into the freezing cold, to put my time in.
I quickly realized how much I hated it.
I stuck with it for a while, but I never seemed to be able to build my stamina. I'd get winded after running only about a quarter of the way around the track. I never got that “runner's high” that people talk about. The only thing I got were sore shins and aching lungs.
I eventually gave up.
I'm not sure what actually sparked it this time, but I decided to try again. I purchased an app that promises to whip even the biggest couch potatoes into good enough shape to complete a 5K. I was skeptical.
Even the first week of alternating between 1-minute jogs and 1.5-minute walks was hard for me. I wondered how I could continue on knowing that it would get harder and harder each week.
But I didn't give up.
I'm on my sixth week — more than halfway through the program — and I can jog for at least 20 minutes straight. I never thought I'd be able to do that.
It's amazing what our bodies can do when we put our minds into it.
Kristina Serafini is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-324-1405 or kserafini@tribweb.com.
