Never Say Never

I may risk sounding like a bad after school special, but I’m putting it in writing here: I will never say never again.

After four months of kicking ass as part of the Shredheads, back in July, I started mulling the notion of running, a physical activity I had always deemed myself unfit for. Thanks to recommendations from fellow Shredheads I started chipping away at the Couch to 5K program, stretching it out (doing run/walk segments 1-2 times per week) and mixing it up with shredding and yoga. I (incredulously) hit the 20 minute mark in September and signed up for my first race last month (what I thought was a Thanksgiving 5K but will actually be a 4-miler).

With the turkey trot on the horizon, I’ve since stepped up the running a bit, removing shredding from my routine (I figure I can get back to it when we’re buried in snow) and running every other day or every third day. And I always do yoga in between run days. (I highly recommend Angie Stewart’s Yoga Fitness Fusion On Demand with Exercise TV; she stretches everything out beautifully and she’s got a very chill personality. Comparison being Elise Gulan, who gives an ass kicking workout in Yoga Fitness Plus but her chipperness utterly unnerves me.) I can’t recommend enough alternating running and yoga; the running is doing wonders trimming me down (I’m actually thinking I may be able to pull off minis or skinny jeans…) and the yoga helps work out all the kinks, stretch me out, and even make me feel a teeny bit taller.

Anyway, today’s a pretty big day for me. The girl who always said never to running hit the 4 mile mark. In 42 minutes. Actually it was 41 minutes and 53 seconds, but who’s counting?

I am so, so grateful to Kristen and Bill and all the Shredheads (and all of my non-Shredhead friends who’ve been cheering me on via Facebook) for their support. I still can’t believe that I’m a runner now!