Before last April I had never even run a mile in my life. When I was younger I had very bad asthma and even into my adulthood I was plagued by the occasional attack. When I met my partner, he and I began taking walks to help build up our stamina so that we could do some backpacking around Europe. He, his mother, and his sister are all distance runners and I felt somewhat embarrassed by my lack of physical fitness. After just a few walks, I decided (right on the spot, I might add) that I would try to run. I began slowly and figured I could run for about 2-3 minutes before I'd need to stop. My partner discouraged me from trying, worried that I would have an attack and hurt myself. I ran past the first telephone pole, then the second, then the third...before we knew it I had ran 1.3 miles! We were both shocked, but overjoyed that I had not needed an inhaler. I simply took slow, deep breaths and paced myself slowly.
That was a little less than a year ago. On March 10, I finished the Gate River Run 15k without ever walking. I could not have done it without the love, support, and coaching of my partner and our family. I plan to run the Dinsey Wine and Dine Half-Marathon later this year!
Determination, education, and patience with yourself can make just about any dream come true.