Crazy Legs | Melanie B

How I got my Crazy Legs – Melanie Berezan

My name is Melanie and I’m an addict. An adventure addict, to be precise.

I wasn’t always this way. In fact I used to be a quiet little mouse. But then a few years ago I met Steve (now my husband) and my life changed. Boy, did it ever…

I’m from a small, quiet and reserved family that likes to plan things out meticulously. Steve is from a large, demonstrative and – dare I say – LOUD family who think nothing of jumping straight into whatever strikes their fancy. Once I got over the shock, I found I have the best of both worlds. What had been a quiet life before is now always an adventure. I think that over the last few years I have really come into myself…whatever that means.

I’m not a woman of many words in person. But once I get writing, well let’s just say my writing grows legs. Crazy legs. Which may or may not be a good thing for a blog, but it sure makes for a fun nickname.

I think I need a Fitness Protection Program...

I only became interested in fitness after my fourth child. Before children I had no interest whatsoever in the health of my body – I totally took it for granted. I was too young to understand that I had a good thing going on with a fast metabolism, too naive to believe that my body would ever change, and also too daft to realize the health benefits of working out.

After the first couple of pregnancies the weight still came off pretty painlessly and even with an extra five pounds I was content with my body – I finally had boobs and hips! But then came children number three and four and I realized that there could be too much of a good thing (body fat I mean, not children).

Around this time I had a chat with my mother-in-law, who is truly the most wonderful lady and also a second mom to me. One thing I really respect about her is that she is not afraid to share her opinions and so it was not surprising to me when she told me that if I kept eating desserts the way I was that one day I would get fat.

Well, holy cow! What she said left a lasting impression on me. Large family=good. Large mommy=not so good.

Tipsy? Me? Well, at least I didn’t run off and get married. Oh wait…I already did that.

Just after that my husband and I attended a party at our friend Sian’s house (you may know her as GoGo Girl). It was New Year’s Eve and after a few drinks the resolutions were flying around the room like vampires at a blood donor clinic.

All of a sudden Sian – oh, and before I forget: pronouncing her name “Shan” will make you sound really, really smart – anyway, Sian announced that we should all start running. At first we thought she meant we were out of beer and needed a booze run, but once the panic settled down we realized she meant running for like, no reason.

Running as a workout was something none of us had ever tried but copious amounts of alcohol helped make the idea sound very appealing. We happily agreed to give it a go.

**Explain why we’re doing this again?**

…And that’s how in the cold January weather I found myself outside the YMCA shivering my heiny off at a 10k learn-to-run clinic, cursing the fact that I had friends.

Luckily for me, our local learn-to-run 10k program (and the run-10k-faster program) are FANTASTIC – if you are interested in learning to run I highly recommend them (make sure you see your physician first before beginning any fitness program, blah, blah, blah…).

The learn-to-run-program started off easy with a few minutes of walking and a very short interval of running. I think this is part of a devious plan to suck people into believing that running isn’t hard.

After a few sessions our time walking became much shorter and the time running became much longer. I remember how nervous I was that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the others in my group. After all, other than high school gym class, I had never worked out a day in my life. Talk about intimidating! I didn’t know if I could do it. Run longer than I walked? Are you kidding me? But somehow, with Sian and Susan and the other supportive runners-to-be, I did it.

It’s all about the flab rehab…

My confidence slowly built as the program progressed and soon it was the morning of our goal race, the Vancouver Sun Run. When we crossed the finish line of that first race it was one of the proudest personal moments of my life. We ran 10 kilometres! Before, I was only able to run as far as the beer fridge.

From the clink of a tipsy glass on New Year’s Eve to crossing my first finish line just over three months later (tipsy in a totally new way), somehow I had transformed from armchair addict to…athlete?

Wow.

From there, I never looked back. Inspired, I set a goal of completing a half marathon and started training for that. It wasn’t so much that I loved running. Nope, not at all! Running was still a huge struggle and with every step I wanted to stop where I was, curl up on the sidewalk and take a nap.

Rather, my motivation at that point came from the fact that I was incredibly afraid that if I didn’t make a commitment to run that I would let myself down, stop running and lose everything I’d gained (not to mention gain the weight I’d lost!).

Now, four years later, I am hooked on running. I’m not sure when it happened, but it’s my new high, right up there with sugar. Luckily, there’s room in my life for both. I’m grumpy if I don’t run (sorry kids) and even on the days that I don’t want to go out the door, I still do because I know how good I’ll feel when I come back in.

Anyway, now that you’ve peeked in on my life…I’d love to learn about you too. Are you a fit-twit? Misfit? Fit to eat? Or do you eat to fit? I post about my personal fitness adventures on Sundays. Leave a comment. Share your story. Make some goals. What should we try next?

Yours in fun & adventure,