Woes of a Wannabe Runner

yep, thats me. Just kidding.

Hi there. I want to write about my frustration of running if you would like to read along. It might get long.

I remember the first time (post elementary school) that I ran a mile. It was in high school and it seemed like such a long distance. I was so proud of myself. However, I didn't start running as a form of exercise until my freshman year in college. I danced through high school and sometimes went to the gym and that was my exercise. I got to college and started eating completely awful. Like a milkshake every night, candy on the way to every class, and cheesy bread for dinner. It was bad.

Now if you have ever visited Provo, Ut, you would notice that everyone and their dog just looooves to run there. (am I right, or am I right)? Which is great. My freshman roommate was one of those luckily. Within the first month of being at college my roommate and I, along with a couple guys, decided we were going to run a marathon. One of them already had and he devised our running schedule. Well all was going well until we decided we didn't want to do it anymore (they were kinda like nazi drill sergeants if I remember correctly).

Then Utah winter kicked in and it was COLD. And there was no way I was running outside anymore. I went running a few more times that year, but honestly, I didn't exercise much that year (and it showed-yes I gained about 20 lbs freshman year-yikes!).

Anyways to speed this story along I ran a little bit my sophomore year as well, but I think it was my 3rd year at BYU that I really began to LOVE running. I lost the rest of my freshman 20 and never felt better. My friend Natalie and I (my freshman roommate) would run about 3 miles together almost everyday, maybe every other day. It was our thing. And I got to the point, where I HAD to run. (Disclaimer--I never ran more than 6 miles, and that was a one time thing.) I loved how I felt after each run. It was such an easy and convenient form of exercise.

Fast forward to March 2011. I was back in Arkansas and working for Walmart. I started reading some running blogs and decided I wanted to get serious about running. I wanted to run races and get faster. I even started keeping a running journal. I signed up for my first 10k at the end of April and I was really excited. Then one day I was running on the treadmill, just doing my thang, and my knee started hurting. It wasn't excruciating, so I kept going. Noted it in my journal and carried on. My next run was a 4 miler..my knee starting hurting, but gosh darn it, I was gonna finish those 4 miles. And I did. The next day I could barely walk bc of my knee pain. I laid off of it for a few days, but every time I ran this kept happening. I finally went to a physical therapist and a chiropractor. But nothing really helped. I wasn't able to run my 10k. I tried doing all kinds of stretches, to no avail.

The point is I basically stopped running after that. Since then I've only run a mile, maybe two about once a week...if i'm feeling ambitious. I started cycling and doing the elliptical (which I feel is the lazy workout--I mean it IS the easiest thing to do, and the results are slower). But I don't love either. They are boring to me. I'm so jealous of people who can just run miles without pain. Why can't I be that person? The other day, I decided I'm gonna try again. Yesterday I ran 1.7 miles and last night I felt the pain again. Ugh. I want to figure this out! I think one of my legs is longer than the other and that may be causing the pain. But I can overcome! Right?! Or do I give up running? I hope not.

Has anyone else experienced running problems like this? I would REALLY love to know if anything helped. So here's to my hope that I can someday run more than 2 miles pain-free.