Question for Francisco

[Guest guest]

Francisco my love, please don't laugh at this question but how did you

get started running. I am 56yrs and can not remember (honest!) when

the last time was I was able to run. I am down 93bls and to a size

where I think I could start but I don't know if I can't or if I am just

afraid to try. I don't have a problem using my roller blades or

walking or any other excercise. But I have this real mental block

about running (or jogging). Both of my kids are really into

excercising so I haven't asked them. They would just think I'm nuts!

Any little starting hint would be aoppreciated. I'm not evn sure why I

want to but I feel like I have to get over this block and try.

PEGGY

(one of your biggest fans)

[Guest guest]

Peggy,

I have a " Beginner's running guide " if you would like to borrow it.

I can bring it to the next meeting in July. Let me know. I say

borrow cause when I am down another 15, I want to start running as

well and you know I lose pretty sloooooooooooow. You can call me at

486-5446

Shika

>

> Francisco my love, please don't laugh at this question but how did

you

> get started running. I am 56yrs and can not remember (honest!)

when

> the last time was I was able to run. I am down 93bls and to a size

> where I think I could start but I don't know if I can't or if I am

just

> afraid to try. I don't have a problem using my roller blades or

> walking or any other excercise. But I have this real mental block

> about running (or jogging). Both of my kids are really into

> excercising so I haven't asked them. They would just think I'm

nuts!

> Any little starting hint would be aoppreciated. I'm not evn sure

why I

> want to but I feel like I have to get over this block and try.

> PEGGY

> (one of your biggest fans)

>

[Guest guest]

Peggy:

Well, I had a mental block about running too. I HATED

running/jogging in high school PE class (I hated PE class and all

forms of exercise period), but as I got more and more in shape as I

lost the weight, while walking faster and faster on the treadmill, it

felt freeing, almost like flying, the faster and faster I went.

So one day while I was on BART I saw an ad for the National AIDS

Marathon Training program. I read the brochure about starting out

slow and learning how to run, and I thought, well, what the heck?

Then I read the motto: " You can achieve what others only dream about. "

Another quote: " To accomplish great things, we must not only dream,

but act. " It's what we all have done here (or are in the process of

doing: Turning our dreams into action to save our lives. So... I

mentioned it online in this group, and decided to do it too,

albeit at a different site (me in San Francisco, her in the East Bay).

The first Saturday, I was nervous, but excited. The WEIRD thing that

and I both felt was that we were sure we could complete the

training program. We were both more worried about raising the

minimum sponsorship donations ($1600.00 which we both accomplished--I

eventually raised over $3000.00). At the end of the 1-mile timed

run, I'd been put into a pace group based on my time. And I was

shocked to find that my pace group was a bunch of 20-somethings and

me--the 40-something guy. After a month of bonding with my pace

group, I told them my story of losing 153 lbs, and they were all

shocked and amazed. I trained for six months following the program

to complete the Half Marathon (13.1 miles) in about 2 hours, 45 mins.

After the half marathon, I continued running because it's the closest

thing to flying I've experienced. I have a freedom of movement that

was impossible when I weighed 315 lbs. Now I run up hill here in San

Francisco without problems, and I run in places that would have been

impossible for me to walk before.

I'm free now. And still it amazes me how much I enjoy running. I

run by tourists in the Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf area without a bit

of the self-consciousness I would have felt before. I'm a runner.

I'm an athlete for the first time in my life, and I don't care who

sees me run. I'm not ashamed of my body anymore. I'm not ashamed of

me anymore. It's a miracle, and I'm glad that I've been able to use

my new-found physical abilities for a good cause--raising $5,955 for

the SF AIDS foundation over a two-year period (last year's Half

Marathon and this year's Full Marathon).

Who would have thought that the little fat boy who always got picked

last for teams at school would be an athlete at age 42 (I'll be 43 by

the time I run the Full Marathon on July 30th)? Who would have ever

believed that I'd be able to run 26.2 miles and ENJOY it?! What a

blessing I've received. What a precious gift I've been given.

I hope you can find some kind of exercise that brings you this much

joy and soul-nourishment. I NEVER thought I'd enjoy being physically

active like this, but I stepped out of my self-imposed prison and

took a leap of faith. And now I run with young men and women because

I've been reborn.

I hope everyone of us here gets to feel that magical freedom.

Francisco

P.S. There is a woman who works for the SF AIDS Foundation who

completed her first marathon at age 65 to honor her beloved son who

died of AIDS. Her story moved me to tears. She is such an

inspiration to me.

>

> Francisco my love, please don't laugh at this question but how did

you

> get started running. I am 56yrs and can not remember (honest!)

when

> the last time was I was able to run. I am down 93bls and to a size

> where I think I could start but I don't know if I can't or if I am

just

> afraid to try. I don't have a problem using my roller blades or

> walking or any other excercise. But I have this real mental block

> about running (or jogging). Both of my kids are really into

> excercising so I haven't asked them. They would just think I'm

nuts!

> Any little starting hint would be aoppreciated. I'm not evn sure

why I

> want to but I feel like I have to get over this block and try.

> PEGGY

> (one of your biggest fans)

>