That first step.....

I began running soon after I entered college. Eating a steady diet of heat-and-eat foods I could nuke in my miniature microwave and toaster Pop Tarts, it wasn’t a surprise that the Freshman 15 came on quickly. Coupling that with an over-weight roommate that was a human candy hoover didn’t help temptations any.

By mid-October, my schedule fully packed with music practices and classes, I was literally in class from 9am-7pm three days a week. I reached for the easiest foods possible, my personal favorite, Chocolate Chip Pop Tarts and Easy Mac. I realized that I had to do something. Topping out at 150 wasn’t alarming in itself, but the fact that I had gained 15 lbs in just over a month was what drove me to change.

Since my daily schedule was already full, my only choice to workout was in the early morning. Eating cereal breakfast in the bathroom (in order to not wake the roomie), I prepared for my first run. Armed in sweatpants, a huge baggy sweatshirt and some old sneakers, I went out. Frost clung to the grass and the golden leaves on the trees. My breath froze in a cloud of white around my face. I took off, my legs flying beneath me. Within a minute of my first running step, I was doubled over, gasping for breath. I rested a moment and then started over again. I think my first run was about .70mi and took 15 minutes. The point really wasn’t going out there and running fast or forever, I just wanted to feel like I was doing something to combat the weight gain. Mapping out my first run. I didn't know this program existed when I first started.

I continued working at it, running about 4-5 times a week. Within a month, I doubled my distance to two miles a day. I didn’t know running blogs existed and knew no other runners, so as far as I could tell, I loved every minute of it and that’s all that mattered. By mid-November, I found myself taking a seat closer to the back of the room in my Music Theory class, my 9am and first class of the day. The professor, with her thick Chinese accent, was difficult to understand if I didn’t pay close attention. The room was so comfortable after running outside in the cold that I often found myself nodding off. After a few days of not remembering what was said in class, I decided that I had to change the time I ran each day.
With the shorter days, I found that running in the afternoon felt safest. It was then, in broad daylight, that I noticed my campus had some fantastic trails. Other people had been using some of them, so there was a packed trail through the snow. I added a layer of socks to keep my feet warm (all cotton) and hit the trails. Running in the pre-Garmin era meant that I really didn’t know my times or paces. All I do know was that I went from gasping for air and walking every few minutes to running without stopping for at least 30 minutes. I estimated distance with my watch, assuming I was running 11:00/mi, but that may still have been optimistic. I really didn’t know.

In January, I got a new roommate. The old one moved out citing irreconcilable differences. This new roommate was thin and kept herself that way by use of fad diets and “cleanses”. When we met, I was down to 135, my pre-college weight. She carried herself with confidence and loved her body. I wanted that. That semester is the one that changed it all for me. With a change of major (from Music Ed. To French language), I was happier and felt I had more free time.

I was also in class between 11-2pm and the cafeteria had only the salad bar and sandwich shop open. I found myself loving salads and the Tomato Tortellini soup. Eating by myself at such odd times really helped me to focus on what I was putting into my mouth. Eating until the hunger went away and then stopping. I packed up the remaining food and took it with me to eat later. This change, largely brought on by circumstance, proved to be a turning point. I found that with a cleaner diet (who knew that PopTarts weren’t good for you?!) I had so much more energy. I didn’t know much about races in the local area and I had no way to leave my isolated college campus to get to them, so I didn’t race. But I knew that the Green Bay Marathon had a half marathon race and it was sometime in May. I already knew that I didn’t enjoy running really fast, but I enjoyed going long. With that, I signed up for my first race.

Beginning of the runner transformation : my first pair of running shoes and lots of water nearby. :)