Why run?

I used to despise running.  When I was an 18 year old weight lifter, I wanted to keep my body fat down. Running was the only way that I knew to do this.  It burned fat quickly.  I could get it done and overwith, then move on to the "real" workout, that of lifting weights.

I am not that 18 year old girl anymore.  I don't want the massive muscle weight that I had back then.  It was starting to make me look like a boy, and that's just not the look I am going for now.  Not that I am going for a particular look.  I just know what I don't want.

So, back then, I ran 4 miles 3 or 4 days a week.  That in conjunction with daily walks kept me slim enough. Today, over 24 years later, I find that running is serving some other purpose. I am not sure how it morphed into an activity that I actually enjoy. And I am not sure why I keep doing it.  I just know that I want to keep running for as long as I am possible.

I have lost 117 pounds in the past 5 years.  100 pounds of that weight loss came from walking only.  It was fast walking. Then I noticed a complete halt in my weight loss, and I knew I had to step it up a notch. On one of my walks I decided to run the length of about 4 houses.  Maybe 250 feet at most.  I did it, and I was proud and surprised.  The next day I tried to run twice as far.  And then further.  Eventually I got to a mile.  At that point I felt that 2 miles was probably going to be my max distance.  I would be happy with myself forever, I told myself.

Of course, after two miles, then a 5k was the next logical step.  Eventually I was doing a 5k every other day day while walking every other day.  This worked nicely and the majority of my remaining weight came off during this period.

Then I got the ridiculous idea that I would climb Mt. Rainier.  Running 5 miles a day 4 days a week was in order.  I hiked with a 20-pound backpack.  I ran up bridges.  I did the elliptical machine every evening along with my runs in the morning.

I didn't make it to the top of Mt.Rainier, but it had nothing to do with my cardiovascular health or my leg strength.  It had everything to do with a lack of  balance and a frightening fall.  But I did get more mountain climbing done in that one trip than ever before or since.  I have no desire to tempt fate again.

After the mountain climbing fiasco, I had a surgery that kept me from running for 8 weeks.  Ahhh!! It seemed like forever.   But I did the right thing.  Soon after my "sabbatical", I entered my first race, the 15k Gate River Run in 2015.  I wasn't sure I could run that far, so before I officially signed up, I decided to run 9 miles in my neighborhood.  Once I had that obstacle out of the way, then doing the race didn't seem implausible.  That was 7 months ago, and I have run at least one race per month since.  And my courses now are on the trails. I run paved roads on weekdays, but weekends are where I really want  to be: on a trail.

Trails I've run:

UNF
Bayard Conservation Area
Black Creek Ravines
Little Talbot Island
Tillie Fowler Regional Park
LC Ringhaver Park
Nocatee Greenway
Julington Durbin Preserve
Guana Tolomato Preserve
Gold Head Branch State Park

Trails I want to run:
Anything in Amelia Island
Cary State Park
San Felasco Hammock Preserve
Wekiva Trail
Anywhere in Suwanee State Park
Ocala National Forest