Lisa started running in April 2006. She finds it hard to believe now, but she actually needed encouragement to get going. With her family and friends urging her, she decided to do something positive for herself. Her sister was running and it piqued her interest. She had always exercised and been active, but this running thing was something different. She could barely run for 1 minute! 5 kilometres seemed impossible! Never the less, she chose the 5km learn to run option in the running clinic at Let’s Get Fit.
She started. She ran and then she walked, she ran and then walked, ran and walked. She found the intervals she was doing easier to handle than just running as far as she could. Gradually she found her endurance and strength were getting better. She started to feel the difference in her legs and her breathing. 5 kilometres actually was going to be achievable! And she warns not to do more than what you are supposed to either! “Stick to the schedule - it works!”, she says.
After, reaching her first goal of 5 km, she dared to dream of the 10 km! And it wasn’t long until…
My first “official” race was actually in Kitchener-Waterloo ‘Oktoberfest 10km’
in the fall of 2006 with my sister running with me (she did the Chicago Marathon
the week after). I was extremely nervous as everyone seemed to be anxious
to get your chip/bib and get in line to use the washrooms!! You worry that
you are going to have to use the washroom during the race so you go that one
last time………seems silly because when you get started you don’t even think about
that.
I was amazed at how many different shapes/sizes there are at
the race as well. It just showed me that anyone can run if they put their
mind to it.
I remember saying to my sister “is there still people
behind me because I don’t want to be the last one!!” She would laugh and
say “yes there are people behind you” which made me want to keep
running.
What made it really special was that my oldest son, my
parents, my 3 sisters and their husbands and my niece and nephew were all at the
finish line waiting for us!!
Of course I cried as it was very
emotional with having my family there. We had a celebration barbeque after
the race…….it was an accomplishment that I thought when I first starting running
I would never be able to do.
Since then she has run several 5 km, 10km’s races and in 2008 finished 2 half marathons. She is very excited to be training for a full marathon in October, 2009. Running now is a big part of her life. She credits a lot of her success to her running partners. And if you live in the Dresden area I am sure you have seen the three of them out there enjoying every minute of it! Her last comments are about what she has received from running - more than she ever expected - “improved health for sure but encouragement and friendships that will last a life time!”
Thanx for your story Lisa!
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