Ahhhh Spring!  It’s finally solidly upon those of us in North America. Our dear Heather O’s post from April 16, 2007 is a solid reminder of why I need to get outside more. Maybe it will inspire you, too. (and because of your title Heather, I now have an earworm)

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Last year I started to run for exercise. I’ve been an exerciser my whole life. As a young teenager I started doing aerobics videos with my mom and biking everywhere with my friends. During college I learned how to weight lift with my sister, enrolled in swimming, participated in an intramural aerobic/kickboxing class, and took a different type of dance class every semester. I also used to rollerblade in Provo Canyon and only crashed a couple of times and never sustained any serious injuries (if a massive road rash that didn’t heal for over a week doesn’t count as serious). After college I made time to speed walk with friends a few times a week and kept lifting weights with my husband. However, through all of that exercise I never once wanted to be a runner. I resisted running because I thought I just couldn’t do it.I didn’t believe I could get better at it. I had run for PE classes and when things required it, but it just felt so h-a-r-d! I’m not sure where this notion came from, that I couldn’t do it well or get better if I worked at it. Especially considering how much I had exercised and seen how the more you do something the better you get at it.

So last spring a girlfriend in my ward was talking about needing someone to run with her in the mornings. My son was born about eight months previously and I felt anxious to speed up the recovery process. I wanted to feel fit again, and the speed walking just wasn’t cutting it. For the first time ever I actually wanted to become a runner. I reluctantly volunteered to join her if she’d let me walk when I needed to. She agreed and seemed excited. Our first morning out I met her at the bottom of a steep hill that leads into a gorgeous park near our apartments. We set off up the hill. Halfway up I wanted to stop because, well it hurt. My heart was thumping as if it wanted to exit my chest and my lungs burned. Okay, so here’s a confession: I’m a little competitive. I looked over at my friend and could see that she was winded, but not on the verge of explosion. Only five minutes into our run and I really wanted to stop. However, for the sake of saving my pride I barreled forward. At the top of the hill the burning had become nausea and little white flashes were spurting up behind my eyes. These seemed like danger signs, so I slowed to a jog and said, “Whew, that hill sure got me. Let me just walk a minute and catch my breath.” I wanted to say, “This absolutely sucks! I should like the way I feel when I exercise, not want to fling myself into that bush!” But I kept a smile on my face and walked and waited. I waited for my heart to slow down, and I waited some more. My friend’s heart had slowed down past the point of effectiveness so she asked, “Ready to run again?” I agreed, but knew that urge to vomit would not be far off, because get this, at the top of that hill is not a down hill, or even flat ground, but another hill, granted less-steep, but an upward climb nonetheless. My heart rate climbed upward with the path until it pounded right in my throat, waiting with the throw-up for me to let it go or STOP! I would call it determination if I could, but really it was my vanity that kept me moving; I didn’t want to be embarrassed. I breathed through the pain, slowed the pace a little and made it to a stretch of flat ground. I made it up other hills and needed to walk about every ten minutes or so, but I didn’t give up. We ran a couple more times, with similar results. Sure, my progress was slow, but I felt proud; I hadn’t given up.

My friend had registered to do a 5k race in just a couple weeks time, so I signed up too thinking that I could have a goal to work toward. When I called one night to check what time we planned on running the next morning she informed me that she had arranged to go with another girl. “You can still come with us, but we’re going to run.” Apparently with the race day looming her patience for me as a partner had waned. I made up an excuse about not being able to join them as I choked back the tears. However those tears of embarrassment and hurt did not overwhelm me. I got up the next morning, chose a different path and went running. (Okay, it was jogging with some walking interspersed, like before. But I got out there and did it.) My competitive spirit got me up and out the door a few times a week and to that race. I walked for a bit of it here and there, but I finished in a not-too embarrassing time and set a goal that I would become a runner.

Now I am training to do a half-marathon (That’s 13.1 miles for those of you who don’t know and I’m waiting to see if I get picked and can register to do a full marathon this fall). The race is in three weeks and last weekend I ran 10 miles, no interspersed walking, no vomiting, and no white flashes! Burning in the legs, yes, but I am now a runner. Since the beginning of the year I have been training with this new goal in mind and over and over again I have been amazed at the body, my body, this gift that my Father in Heaven granted me at birth, never to be taken away, that I fought for and shouted for joy over. I love my body! Even with all the running I still have cellulite, curvy hips, and a flabby post-birth stomach. These are things that the media and society tell me I should hate; but I cannot hate my body. This body that runs one mile, then two, then ten is built to withstand hardship and get stronger. This body that lifts my children from their beds, pushes them on the swings, chases them through the grass is a gift. This body that knows how to read, write, and feel the Spirit will be the physical tabernacle of my spirit forever.

Our spring issue is coming on our main website and we are celebrating the body. Read it! Enjoy it! Love your body!

What is hardest for you to overcome in loving your physical body? What helps you love your body most? What do you love about your body?


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