Let's Share: Heidi's Story

This story comes from a friend I made back in Rexburg before we moved to Idaho Falls.  She was in our ward and her husband was our home teacher.  Her husband could never find his companion to come visit us, so she became his home teaching companion.  It was awesome to get to know her this way and she and her husband are an adorable couple.  She is also the super mom to a cute little boy, Dallin, who is only about a month older than my boys.  She is a technical writer (or was last time I checked) and very talented.  So here is Heidi's story, enjoy.

I have never been a runner in fact if anything I avoided it. I have always struggled with my weight and been heavy. I dreaded PE in school because I hated our daily running laps and the 4 days each quarter that I had to run the mile in middle school were brutal. I even remember playing softball on a girls league and people in the stands would yell at me to run! because they all said I wasn’t moving fast enough which further embarrassed me and decreased my desire to ever be seen running in public. I solved that problem by learning to hit home runs over the fence every time so I wouldn’t have to run in front of people. My dad who was a cross country and track and field star in high school could never understand this about me. I wanted to love to run but I just didn’t.

In my battle with my weight I have done every exercise known to man and even tried running a few times but always gotten in hard core for 3 or 4 days and hate it by the end of the week. After I married the love of my life I was still heavy but not too bad. Within a few years I had packed on 85 lbs with no end in sight – I knew I had to do something. I toyed with the idea of running, like I said I love the idea of being a runner I just hate the running part. I gave up and pursued my weight loss other ways.

Heidi and her husband with little Dallin in tow right after
their 5K.

Towards the beginning of 2011 I decided it wasn’t just the exercise it was my diet – food has been and always will be a passion of mine but it was counteracting all my hard work to lose weight and lets face it diet food is boring!! Something in my mind clicked that perhaps if I couldn’t control and have fun with the food perhaps I could have creative running goals that I could control– I know it sounds totally strange but it was my crazy mind trying to help me. I told my parents that I wanted to set a goal to run a marathon by my 30^th birthday (still 4 ½ years away) and they laughed and told me I don’t run!! I told my husband who is as much of a runner as I am and he thought I had gone crazy but wanted to be supportive and agreed to run and train with me. We plunged in doing walks and planned out first 5K. Much to my surprise I would look forward to my daily run on my lunch, my body didn’t always love it but I loved the fact that I was doing it and not giving up. I loved looking at my schedule and saying by the end of the year I will be able to run this far if I just push myself a little harder today. Needless to say when I told my dad I completed my first 5K he was shocked but happy for me.

Then came cute little Anna – someone I haven’t talked to in a few years whom I really admired started a running blog. I nosed around on it one day and just kept coming back. Every time I come back from a run and vow I will never do it again or when my muscles are super sore I browse through her blog until I am totally inspired again and excited to be “one of the runners” J

Somehow it is strangely addictive, I love having the desire to go, I love the time to get lost in my own thoughts, I love how relaxed and invigorated I am when I get back, I love how I can set and achieve goals, and I love being one of those people that people say oh I wish I were a runner. I just have to smile and laugh because I am not a runner … I just run. I am not the fastest and I never will be but I am okay with that I don’t need to be I am competing with myself to be better and to say “I did that”. That has been so much more rewarding than anything the scale says and motivates to keep going back.

 

I swear I did not tell her to call me cute!  But it's nice to hear anway ;-)  I love Heidi's story and the awesome goals she has for herself.  I'm behind you all the way, Heidi!!!  I particularly love the part where she says she loves "having the desire to go."  Isn't nice to actually want to exercise?  That's half the battle right there!  Thanks again, Heidi, for your stellar story.  Keep me posted on how training goes. 

If you have a story you'd like to share or know someone who does, please email me at annadurfee@yahoo.com.