How Did I Get Into Running?

I was never a runner as a child.  I hated running.  I played soccer and quit after the first year because it was too much running.  I played basketball and quit because it was too much running.  I played softball and secretly was happy when I only had to run one base at a time.  Hitting a home run was way too much running for me.  When it was Presidential Fitness time in school (do they still do that anymore?) I would try to figure out ways to get out of running the mile.  I was always the last kid to finish, it was humiliating.  While I hated running, I enjoyed being active.  Riding my bike, swimming, hiking were regular things when I was younger.  Enter in a daily job and the daily grid brought all of that to a halt for me.

So why do I run 4 days a week now?  That's a mighty good question.  About 6 years ago work was offering an exercise class twice a week after work right outside the building.  I jumped at the idea.  It was a class that has us outside (in the hot, cold, rain, and snow) for an hour jumping, planking, squatting, and yes running.  The running was just a 5 minute warm-up and we could walk if we couldn't run, though they encouraged us to run.  I remember the first time I was able to run the full 5 minutes.  It was the most amazing thing. 

I started walking in my neighborhood once a week and would run bits and pieces of it, especially the down hills.  I had a couple other memorable accomplishments like the first time I ran 20 minutes strait and mostly running a 5k.  But my first biggest accomplishment was running the Ukrop's 10k in 2011.  At the end of that post I say that I'm not sure I ever wan to do a 10k again because it was too much training.  If I only knew what was ahead of me.

It did the Ukrop's 10k again the next year.  Then took the leap in 2012 to run my first half marathon.  I do remember after that race that I was so sore that I never wanted to run another half again.  I did soften up and say not every year.  Training for this race was when I really started to think of myself as a runner.  It really started my running career.

Since then I have done countless 5 and 10ks, 12 more half marathons, 2 full marathons, and 4 triathlons.  This includes many challenges, including the Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge where you run a 5k, 10k, half, and full for a total of 48.6 miles in 4 days.

That's my journey in a nut shell.

How did you get into running?  What is your first running accomplishment that you really felt proud of?