Many people comment to me that they don’t think that they could run like I do. Believe me, the distances that I run are minuscule compared to some of the marathon runners I know. Also, anyone that knows me well, knows that I did not just wake up one day and decide to run. I’ve had problems with my knees since high school and this all began by simply walking. A lot. This is how I went from 4000 steps to 10K races.
One Day I Bought A FitBit
Every time someone makes a lifestyle change like this, there is always some catalyst. It might be a health scare, marriage, divorce, having children. For me, it was buying a FitBit. We had been researching ways to exercise and when my wife read about these FitBit’s we thought we would give them a try; that was over six years ago. There must be something about the actual data that became the motivation I needed.
My life was pretty sedentary. I sat behind a computer for 8 hours to work. I sat behind another computer or the television, playing video games when I wasn’t working. My knees hurt going up and down the stairs and I had a prescription for pain killers. Pain killers that are a controlled substance in the state of Ohio. The day I put on that FitBit is the day I decided I was done with all that.
Within the first three years I went from an average of 4,000 steps to 10,000 steps a day and I lost 55 pounds.
Walking Leads to Running
So for the first 3-4 years after strapping on a FitBit, I became addicted to walking. I wanted to take a walk like a smoker craves the next cigarette. One mile lead to two miles. Two miles lead to three. I started walking for my lunch break and I was signing up to walk 5K races.
One day, about two years ago, I was out for a three mile walk and I was walking at a pretty decent pace. Suddenly I had this thought “I wonder if I can run”. I know that my knees would not appreciate the extra stress from the impact of running. However, I was just too damn curious. So I just started running. I started out alternating between running a block and walking a block and just gradually built from there.
Within two years I was running two 5K races and one 10K race. It just takes some perseverance, perhaps a little insanity, and having an addictive personality helps too. You just have to keep working at it and give your body a chance to adapt. Eventually your legs and your lungs will learn how to work together.
I could accomplish so much more if I only had minions!