When I accomplish certain things it causes me to reflect on my path towards health. It wasn't that long ago that I was almost 38 years old, 270+lbs. and completely out of shape (unless you consider round a 'shape'). I witnessed a life changing event (lost a close family member) and told myself that I better get healthy before my 40th birthday, for myself and for my family. With that, I made a commitment to gaining my health back via running and a healthier diet (not primal then). Two months after that I ran my first 5k race. Up to that point, that was the farthest I had ever run in my life.
Since then I've finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd in my age group at different events and have found that trail running is MUCH more enjoyable for me that road running. Most surprising was learning of the mental health benefits that running provides me. I would have never guessed that a 5 mile run would completely eliminate the struggles and stresses from the work day. I haven't, and still don't, consider myself a competitive runner. My only competition is the clock and my previous times and paces. Likewise, I'll never be a distance runner, two knee surgeries on the same knee in a 3 year span limit me to not going over 7 miles.
That said, I ran a 5 mile race in March and set a new personal best pace of 7:28/mile. And earlier this month (May) I completed a 10k race in under 50 minutes. That 10k goal of under 50 minutes escaped me all of last year, glad I got that one out of the way. Next goal is a 10k trail run under 50 minutes.
It's fun to keep checking these things off my list of things to accomplish, especially considering that it wasn't that long ago that I was a completely unmotivated and unhealthy couch potato. I still find a ton of motivation when I look back and think about where I've come from. If anyone's interested, when I did hit the big four-oh, I had lost a total of 75lbs. Since changing my diet and lifestyle to a 'Primal' one, I've lost an additional 12lbs. Needless to say, it feels excellent.
Cheers All. Here's to Health!
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