I've taken up running. No one is more surprised by this than me! I've always wanted to run, but failed every time I tried. In high school, I joined the cross country team. That lasted about 10 minutes until I realized that it was painful, and I couldn't breathe! Several other times throughout my life I've made the unsuccessful attempt to start running: I'd start out fast, get shin splints, have an asthma attack, my allergies would flare up and I'd quit. Something about the way I started this time was different though.

My husband has been telling me for months now that he wanted to get a treadmill and start running. I kept coming up with reason after reason as to why we shouldn't run. "It's too hard on your knees" I'd say. "I don't want a treadmill in my house." Was another.

Finally, he wore me down. My Dad had a treadmill at his house that was, well, just kind of gathering dust. Tom made several attempts to convince me it would be good to have in the house. After months of going back and forth, telling him I did not want "that stupid treadmill" in my house, I finally gave in. I think my Dad was thrilled that the fight was finally won, because I haven't seen him move something out of his house as quickly as that treadmill was moved! And now? The thing I fought the hardest to keep out of my house is one of my favorite things in my house!

So here I was with a "stupid" treadmill in my house. What's a girl to do now? I decided if it was going to be here, I was going to use it. I'd started on a new diet program (I'll explain more about that later) and by November had lost about 20 ish pounds. I was doing some exercise videos that I'd bought off of an infomercial and was having fun, but I wanted to put that "stupid" treadmill to work. So I asked for advice from my Facebook "family" on how to get started. I got a lot of really good feedback - several AWESOME app recommendations for my phone, and other good suggestions - like keeping the Tata’s strapped down, and getting a good pair of running shoes, etc. I started downloading the apps immediately and checked out this one called "couch to 5k". I looked it over and thought what the heck! I'll give this a try.

On November 15 I went "running" for the first time. On that detested treadmill no less. And all of the sudden, I was HOOKED.

With all of the comments that were made when I asked for advice, the one that sticks out the most was the one made by Sarah Danley. Sarah and I met through a youth group in high school and were reconnected through FB. She had lots of helpful advice. But it was the last sentence that stuck with me it read: "...you have plenty of time to train for the LR half marathon in March!" MARATHON? Yeah right. Was what I was thinking when I read that. I'm pretty sure I laughed out loud. But dang it! That seed was planted! And next thing I know, it's all I could think about. I started researching Marathon's, looking at marathon websites, reading stories of how other people did it (Including Sarah Danley's inspiration story of how she trained for and completed a triathlon!). And all of a sudden, I went from "yeah right!" To "WHY NOT?!!!"

And with that WHY NOT yelling in my brain every minute of every day, I started talking to my husband about it. I started getting on the treadmill 4 days a week crossing off the Couch to 5K days. And LOVING every minute of the sweat and pain that stupid treadmill brought! With everyday that got crossed off on the couch to 5K app, the WHY NOT got louder and louder, and all of the sudden 13.1 miles didn't seem so unrealistic anymore. Finally, my husband realized how serious I was about running this half marathon and he jumped on board with me.

So that's part of the story behind my recent love for something I thought I could never do. And now I'm doing it! Our goal is to run the LR half Marathon in March. Our hope is that we can get the 13.1 miles done in 3 hours or less. But our ultimate goal is just to FINISH.

There were several contributing factors that made me successful this time around. One was having that "stupid" treadmill in my house. Two - the couch to 5K app on my phone. That app was truly a game changer for me! And third - determination to achieve something I've always wanted to do - become a runner.