What would you do if you couldn’t run??

By Diane Cunningham, M.Ed.

Wow . . . just reading the question has started my heart beating faster.

No running? What?

If I couldn’t run, my life would be so much different. It is hard to admit how addicted I have become over the last few years. And to think that I used to hate running is also amazing. My parents keep reminding me “didn’t you hate running cross country in high school?”. My, my, how things can change….

Without running, I would still be fat, weighing over 200 lbs.Without running, I might not have quit smoking and chewing Nicorette gum.Without running, I might still be drinking too much and too often.

Without running, I might still be depressed and taking anti-depressants.Without running, my life would be very different.

• Running has helped me to lose over 40 lbs. I am still on the ‘big-boned’ side. But I am fit and healthy and quite sturdy, I must add. I often think to myself, “how much would I weigh if I wasn’t running?”. And I really don’t want to find out. I am not and will never be a “skinny little runner type” person. But that is OK and running helps me know that I am strong, capable, and able to do more than most people even imagine.

• Running has released me from 2 unhealthy addictions and created new healthy ones. I have to admit. At one point in my life, I was drinking a bottle of wine a night and smoking lots of cigarettes. I also was addicted to Diet Coke (I know, don’t laugh), drinking it at breakfast and 5-6 cans a day. And when I was training for my first marathon with Team In Training, I was chewing Nicorette Gum to get me through. (Go TEAM!!) Now I am proud to say that I am completely addicted to water. I can’t leave the house without a 25oz jug of it. And the other morning, I realized that by the time I left my house to start my day, I had already had over 64 ounces, which is the suggested amount for an entire day. Good grief!! I am going to float away . . .
  
  
• Running has turned me into a non-depressed person who loves life. I have more friends than I can count and no longer struggle to find my sense of happiness and self-esteem.

• Running clears out the cob-webs that build up in my mind and puts things into perspective. It is a cleansing, life-giving, joyful activity for me now and each run is a victory. A victory over apathy and couch-sitting. A new chance to change my life for the better.

• Running has given me a new vision and a new career. I have created a Life Coaching business that focuses on helping people to start running to improve their life. I teach them about running so that they might learn to love it too. I do seminars about running called Jogging With Jesus. And I completed that first marathon and am now training for #4, who would have known???

So to think about my life without being able to run throws me into a panic. My background is in mental health counseling and I would need some serious help if running was taken away from me.

I truly believe that I would need to have a Runners Anonymous group so that I could talk about it. Yes . . . Runners Anonymous would be a necessity. I would go to RA meetings daily, get a sponsor, and have to admit . . . “My name is Diane and I am a run-aholic….” I would talk about running too much and become very annoying to all of my friends. I would have withdrawals. I would need some help!!

So life without running, for me . . . would be unmanageable!

And I hope that I won’t ever have to let go of this positive addiction that has truly changed my life.