Me Run - Never!

Hi I'm Rose, and I am one of the most unlikely runners that you are ever likely to meet ;-)

In fact if you had asked me to take part in a race, my response would have been, 'what, me run - Never!'

Or that's what I always thought.  I had managed to get to my middle 40's without ever needing to do so, and I have struggled with a weight problem since I was 5 years old (in fact, I can never remember being thin), so didn't believe that I had that runners build.

So what changed?

A couple of years ago, there was a strange coincidence of circumstances that spurred me into action:

• I was told that my 7 year old son had high cholesterol (he was being checked as it is a genetic condition on my husbands side of the family).
• I had a dream about running, where I was running so fast that I felt I was flying.  It felt incredible!
• My group of friends were also up for a challenge and we started joking about doing a triathlon, so I signed us up to do a group triathlon.

This meant that we had to make a lot of changes as a family both with diet and exercise.  Although I have always had the kids doing lots of after school activities, I noticed that my son was starting to slow down and lose interest and it was time for me to lead by example instead of cheering him on from the sidelines.

I signed us up for family fun run's (which is a bit of a misnomer when you have a 4 and a 7 year old, moaning are we there yet?  I'm tired!).

It's been a slow process, but things are definitely changing.  Both kids are really enjoying activity now.  My son has taken part in 4 triathlons, 2 5km runs, and the inter-school swim races as well as a half mile swim (without stopping!).  My daughter has taken part in 2 5km runs, has learnt to swim and loves riding her bike everywhere.

As for me, I have lost two stone, and gained a completely new lifestyle and had lots of fun (if at times painful experiences) along the way.  I have also gained some amazing new friends and the support that comes with taking part in the group training for the triathlons.

I still have a long, long way to go on this journey.  I need to build my stamina to do the longer runs, and I need to improve my speed for the shorter ones (pretty slow at the moment).  I still also need to lose lot's of weight, which would hopefully mean the running would be a bit easier and people would not look at me so incredulously when I mentioned triathlons.

I have been very lucky that my husband Mike has been so wonderfully supportive, throughout, and I am hoping to lure him into the triathlon world (he has already done a couple of the 5k runs with me).

Anyway we have a couple of BHG's (big hairy goals) ahead and lots of plotting and planning to do?

I would also like to hear what motivates you to get out there and run?