Please welcome Charles, my first guest blogger!

Charles is the manager of the RMHC team and has an inspiring story to tell.  I know you will enjoy his story and I guarentee his writing style will make you smile.   I will be back tomorrow with the story of the “Howling Dog”.    I hope that piques your curiosity.  For some reason yesterday's blog post was not emailed, so please visit my site to view yesterday's post.  I hope you will find it amusing.

As Tigger would say…TTFN

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Charles Rubner’s ‘Guest Blog’

Just as Sue is totally new to blogging, I am totally new to ‘guest blogging’ and don’t quite know where to start—other than to just start telling you my story…

So Charles… what’s your story?

 Glad you asked!

(Runners LOVE talking about running.)

My ‘story’ begins in 2003. I was completely out-of-shape; weighed more (LOTS more) than I ever had in my life; and KNEW I had to do ‘something.’  And soon.

And so I made up my mind to start running—what the heck… it didn’t cost a lot; and it was something I could start doing by myself, without needing to expose my “out-of-shapeness” to my friends.)

And once I got started, I liked it!

That first year I got so that I could comfortably run 2, 3 or 4 miles.

(Ta-da!)

But never any more.

Which was okay with me… first, because after running up to 4 miles—I WAS TIRED! I couldn’t have run farther if I wanted to! And second… because I had no REASON to run any farther.

Which was just fine with me.

Then in 2004, a friend of mine who was training for the Chicago Marathon that year said, “Hey Charles. You’re a runner… do you want to run the marathon with me?”

“Kate” I said, “I can run 3 or 4 miles… but there’s NO WAY I could run 26.2 miles.”

At which point she said the words that have forever changed my life… “But Charles, you don’t HAVE to run 26.2 miles.”

(Huh?)

And Kate went on to explain the whole notion of “run/walk.”

She explained that she trains by running for 5 minutes; and then walking 1 minute. (What Kate called a “5/1 run/walk.”)

(Huh?)

She also shared that others in her training group run 4 minutes and walk 2; or run 8 and walk 1.

That’s the way they train. And that’s the way they run their events.

“Kate,” I said. “I can run for 5 minutes.”

“Then Charles, you can run the marathon.”

Which is exactly how this story ends…

… or, begins.

The first time I did a “run/walk” I ran 5 miles.

A few weeks later I was comfortably covering 8 and 10 mile distances.

Me!

I ran 10 miles!

By the time I started increasing my mileage—it was too late to ‘run Chicago’ in 2004… but I promised myself to keep training and sign-up for the Chicago Marathon the following year.

By the time I was standing at the ‘START’ on October 9, 2005 I had lost 45 pounds and was a TOTALLY new (and happier) (and healthier) me.

I have now run 7 marathons, 16 halfs; and completed 5 triathlons.

So that’s my story…

And I SO encourage you to start your own story.

Today.

You don’t have to train for marathon--although I hope that one day, you do.

(And I hope you will run for Team RMHC, to benefit the children and families served by Ronald McDonald House Charities.)

But ‘get out there’ and do SOMETHING!

Walk a mile. (Or two.)

(Then three.)

Start running… or ‘run/walking.’ Then sign-up for your ‘first-ever’ 5K, 10K or half marathon.

Bike.  Swim.  Take a yoga class.  (S-t-r-e-t-c-h yourself. Literally!)

And once you start—don’t stop! Keep doing it.

Make ‘training’ for a healthy and fit “you” a part of your day, your week and your life.

It will change your life.

Promise.

C.