Most of my life, I was in a state where I hated running, and I refused to run. Cycling was okay, hiking okay – running not okay. Then the Transplant Football/soccer World Cup happened, and I had to start training for it, which included running. Unfortunately, I got injured (either while training or in the game –  a stress fracture in my left foot) and had to take a break from running for a couple of months. 

The last couple of weeks, I went back to running again. If someone told me 6 months ago that I would be running in 36F/2C, I’d laugh them in the face. Yet here I am: 

Might not look like it but I just finished a run

We will see if I can keep doing this in freezing temps or if it is snowing. Spring can’t come soon enough. 

Don’t get me wrong, I still hate running. I run despite it. I run because I’m stubborn, because all my life I was and am trying to prove to myself that I can do anything, even if I don’t love that thing or activity. Yes, I’m old, fat, slow, I have a plate in my left leg holding my tibia together, not to mention a spare part (a transplanted kidney) my body is running on. But it’s the satisfaction of bending myself against my will that keeps me going. We will see how far it can take me. I think I understand my goals better now, and with the help of my wonderful trainer I will be able to achieve them. My trainer called her training program for me “falling in love with running”. Easy for her to talk about love with her marathon times under 2.5 hours. I don’t want to be running marathons or Ironman competitions, but I want to at least hate running less. Just a tiny bit less, maybe. Speaking of setting realistic goals.