Dont tell me I cant, cause you know I will!

Ever set yourself a challenge?

I don’t mean one of those ones where you swear you won’t eat anything between breakfast and lunch, but one of those challenges that is actually going to take some determination and grit?

Well, that is what I did in October, here’s how it all went down…..

You see, I am not a runner! For as long as I can remember, I have not run. It is “not my thing” and something I have avoided at any cost. I think the furthest I had run was the 100 meter dash through an airport to find a toilet. When all the other kids were running cross country around the school field, I was in the sick bay with a sore tummy or a stubbed toe, or was it a headache that week, I can’t remember, but whatever it was, it was enough to keep me off the running track!

I’m not sure if it was fear of failure, you know that deep seeded fear of coming last, embarrassment of my girly bits as I got older, the fact I have had 5 operations on my knee’s or just pure laziness, but whatever the reason, it was enough to keep me off my feet and on the couch for the last 40 years!

So skip forward to Oct 2012 and my sister Chris and I was at McDonalds having breakfast after dropping her husband at a half marathon. We were chowing down on our hash browns and McMuffin and feeling sorry for all the crazy people who were putting their bodies on the line that morning! As we watched some of the runners coming in, we were surprised at the “shape” of some of them. Not everyone crossing the finish line was athletic, trim, legs as long as giraffe’s and sporting all the latest gear.

Hmmm, maybe we could actually do this.

Maybe I could actually run. The more we talked the more excited (yes, I did use the word excited!) I got and as I finished my fat laden brekkie, what started as a crazy idea started to become a crazy reality. Imagine if we set a goal and I actually hit it!

The challenge was on, we were going to register for a series of 3 5k races in Jan, Feb & March. That would give us a few months to get in shape and see if we could pull off this miracle!

I guess all I needed to do now is actually get out there and run………..