I am not a sporty person.
I’ve played sports in my life - about 10 years of soccer, 5 years of basketball and I was once on the school touch football team. But quite frankly, I am one of the laziest people I know. I don’t mind playing a game, but I’m not big on practices where they have you run around fields, do “suicides” or run through cones.
Therefore, I certainly have never enjoyed running for the sake of running. I mean, it’s one thing to run after a ball, it’s another to run in endless circles, right?
Over the last few years, I’ve been watching a lot of my friends and family fall into some sort of exercise routine - whether it’s running or going to the gym or something else. I was jealous of the results they were getting - you look better and you feel better - and I tried my hand at nearly everything. I spent two months going to the gym four times a week before I went to the Dominican four years ago. Unfortunately, I then got food poisoning and quickly stopped working out. I tried running, I made playlists and plans and I even made a running pact with my friend. But none of it ever stuck, and I had decided that me + exercise was just not meant to be.
My friend Chandra is a runner. It’s one of the first things I learned about her when we met back in September. She explored a lot of Newcastle while running in the morning. She also got to order dessert because she was already working off the calories. Tempting.
Finally, right before Christmas, I broke down and asked her if she wanted to train me. Just to see how it went. I wanted to be in better shape for traveling. I wanted to be able to order dessert in all the countries I visited. But most of all, I wanted some consistency to my schedule. As an MArts student, I usually only have class for about 2-4 hours a week. And seldom before 11am. So I spent a lot of time last semester staying up late and sleeping in. To the point where I would spend most of the daytime asleep or “waking up” and I wouldn’t start doing anything until the evening. Which is tricky because in England everything closes by 7 at the latest.
In January, fresh off the plane from Egypt and suffering from a horrible cold, I dragged myself out of bed at 9am for the first time to go running with Chandra. She showed up at my door, all bouncy and chipper, and we ran. For two minutes intervals, five times. And I barely survived it.
We have been running three or four times a week since then. I honestly don’t know how it happened, but I’ve actually become a runner.
Today, I ran 5 kilometers for the first time ever.
I actually sang the Chariots of Fire song as we ran. We’ll be up to 10K by May, and we’re currently looking for a 5k charity run to do this spring. I can’t say I love running, because I’m usually quite miserable as we do it. But I love being outside in the morning with Chandra. I love that I actually feel better and more energetic all the time. And let’s face it… I don’t have a scale, but I love the way it’s changed my body, while I continue to eat whatever the hell I want!
Chandra, reverb10, run run run run away | Hezabelle December 12, 2010 | 
Comments (2) 