My Fitness Journey

I'm 5'4" and I have a small frame.  In my teens, I weighed under 100 pounds.  In my 20s, I weighed between 104 and 115, but it was no big deal to lose 5 pounds whenever I got up to 115 (I thought that was HEAVY!).  In 1978, as I was approaching my 30th birthday, I lived in Chicago, in a really wonderful apartment building.  I lived on the 3rd floor (top floor), and a young couple with a young child lived across the hall. 


  (Typical apartment building in Chicago) 

The husband was an avid runner.  At one time, he had been seriously overweight, but having a child had forced him to think about his health in a way he never had before.  I can't claim that my motivation to start running was health, though.  It was nothing but vanity.  I simply did not want to enter my 30s (old age!) struggling with gaining and losing weight constantly.  So I went out for a run one cold, snowy winter's day -- all bundled up.  And I could not run even one city block.  It was so painful!  How could anyone enjoy that!  (And, mind you, I wasn't even overweight; I was just that out of shape!)  Well, my neighbor cheered me on, and he suggested I read The Complete Book of Running by Jim Fixx.
  (Fixx's legs are on the cover!)

This book was such an inspiration.  I started going with my neighbor to run at the track at Loyola University.  I gradually went from being happy to have run 1/4 mile to running two miles regularly.  And it didn't hurt any more!

I had lived in San Antonio, Texas, from 1974 to 1976, and in 1979, I returned to San Antonio. I continued to run my two miles -- as far as I was concerned, that was good enough for me.  I never gained weight, and I could eat anything I wanted!  Life was good!

In 1980, I was dating an Army guy (saxophone player in the Army band), and he was a runner.  One day when we were running, and I had run my two miles, he took me by the hand and told me I was going to run another mile with him.  I was really annoyed.  How dare he tell me how far I was going to run.  But guess what!  I ran that extra mile, and I loved it.  I felt so great.

I'll make a long story short -- by the time I was in my 40s, I was running 6 to 7 miles a day.  At least once a month, I would enter a 5K or even a 10K -- and I would almost always place in the top 3 places for my age group.

Then I hit 50.  You know what they say about how your metabolism changes?  They're right.  Oh, and then there's menopause.  Hmmm...ever heard of the meno-belly?  Well, I'm 62 now, and I have re-committed to running -- once again, I'm running 2 miles regularly.  But I'm thinking it's time to find The Complete Book of Running again -- I'm sure it's at the library!  I really want to run 4 miles on a regular basis, and I think maybe Jim can talk me into it!  I'll let you know!

(Run for the Grapes, First Place, 55 - 59 age group, 2007)