Hi and thank you!

[Ubu4Roi]

Hi everyone,

 

I have run 11 marathons, 1 ultra (52 miles), and over two dozen half marathons...so I am not new to getting in shape (or at least running specific shape).  

 

15 years ago, however, I was 30 years old, obese, chain-smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, spent my days in a dead end job, playing video games at night and was profoundly depressed.   My favorite activity was mentally beating myself up for every perceived failure.  And then one day it changed.   I woke up one day and decided to go for a run.   Not because I wanted to get healthy...but because I figured that I could torture myself through exercise.  I would run until it hurt and then just keep running.  Well...I went out that day and ran.  It was probably close to a 16 minute mile but it felt like I was running like the wind.   I felt the burn in my lungs, my eyes teared, my limbs felt like they were going to fall off, everything hurt.  I wanted to keep going, but couldn't.  I couldn't will myself through it.  It turns out that I didn't hate myself that bad. I started walking, but it wasn't the walk of defeat.  It was one of victory.  I could do something positive for myself.   I noticed the sun shining for the first time in years.   In the beginning, I had lots of stops and starts. I would run whenever I felt sad.  Not far.  A mile seemed like a crazy distance back then...but it was enough to get me temporarily out of my funk.  And then I started running to see if I could go a little further than I did the last time.  Perhaps 10 feet further.  Just a little more.  I just wanted to be a little bit better than the day before.    And I met runners along the way.  Eventually people started asking me for running advice...which was funny because other people thought of me a runner before even I did.   I was just focussed on going ten feet more than I did the day before.   And then one day after a run, I was smiling.  I realized that it had been years since I was depressed.   Running had saved my life.   

 

The next big fitness ephiphany came when I found Nerd Fitness.   A year ago, I wanted to do a pull up.  I could do one really bad one that kind of resembled a worm dangling at the edge of a hook.   After a quick internet search I found Steve's posts on doing pull-ups and was so engrossed that it turned into hours of reading through as much of his blog as I could find and then through these forums.  It felt like home.  You all have kept me inspired even though you didn't know I existed until just now.

 

Thank you.

 

Oh yeah....and I can now do 15 rep sets of pull-ups now.   Hard work and inspiration really does pay off in the end.     

 

[TheMormonRebel]

Welcome welcome and congrats on your pull ups!