A Year of Health

It's been a rough few years. Health-wise my body just fell apart. I can pinpoint the stress where it started but I had no idea that my health would just compile issue after issue to where it no longer worked properly.

I realized it fully when I went on a certain birth control. NIGHTMARE. Nearly 3 months of a solid heavy period, anemia, fibroids, and gaining 20 lbs spiraled me into despair. It took over a year to get that out of my system but the effects linger.

Then I took to yoga every day. Still no impact on the weight but it got me into a practice again. The most beneficial lesson was to stop seeing health as a means to an end (for example being a certain size or weight), but to see health as the end goal. Enter running.

Running is something that I've always felt self-conscious about. Do I run weird? Should I do this at my age? What if other people see me winded after a short period? But to be honest, the most important question always prevailed: Who cares? So I set goals: run once a week, sign up for a 5k, sign up for a... half marathon.

And I've done it! I completed my first 5k in over ten years back in October, I run nearly every week, I signed up for a half marathon this April, and I'm up to a 9-mile run. I'm doing at 43 what I could NEVER do at 23. I didn't have the discipline, the confidence, the faith then that I have now. This has led me on to healthier decisions and to just run for the mere enjoyment of running.