Brodheadsville, Pa.
My name is Amy Bennett. Exactly 2 years ago I was 266 pounds. I thought I was overweight but healthy. We all know healthy people get out of breath walking up stairs, right? But I was happy, or perhaps content. The next 2 years took me on a life changing journey that is still continuing today.
March 21st, 2011, is the very trite “Day that my life was changed” not “The day that changed that my life” because that DAY did not change my life. I did. I joined First Strides, a local beginner walker/runner program geared towards women of all ages and paces. I thought it would be nice to walk a bit and socialize with women in my community.
The first week was eye opening. Walking for 30 minutes was difficult. During this first night, I saw other women attempting to run for one minute at a time. I thought “I can do that” during the week that followed
So I joined the “runner” section of the group. On the first 1 minute interval of jogging I thought I would die. I could not breathe. Everything hurt. One minute is a really long time. What also went through my mind was “you can do anything for one minute. Suck it up.” So I did. One minute at a time that week, two minutes the following week, and so on.
One night I had an epiphany. Perhaps if I really watched what I ate and lost some weight, running would be a bit easier. I changed my eating. Less food, less fat, more veggies, more whole grains, a lot more water. Nothing drastic, no fad diet, just eating less and moving more.
I also made amazing friends over the program’s 12 weeks. When it was difficult for one of us one week, there was always someone to cheer you on. When it was raining, you still got dressed and went for fear of letting down your new friends. I became a runner. I knew this the first time I ran 30 minutes straight and cried. And cheered. My husband was always a runner. However, he had stopped since we had been married 15 years ago. Inspired by me, he began the difficult task of overcoming his ego and his times of his youth.
We ran our first 5k on Memorial Day 2011. It hurt, it was hard, and it was the most fun I had ever had. We continued to run and race all summer. Every single time I set out for a run, I amazed myself. If you had asked me 10 years ago if I would ever run, I would have laughed hysterically. You do not know true success in life until you set out to something ordinary and amaze yourself extraordinarily.
Our 13-year-old daughter was less than thrilled with our early bedtimes, training runs and races — though deep down I think she is proud of us. I imagine watching your parents make a transformation is pretty cool. But it’s not very cool to like what your parents do, so I will wait until she is 25 to ask her how she felt about it all.
By summer of 2011 I was down 60 pounds. I became faster, thinner and healthier. I used to tell my husband “I don’t care about my times. I’m happy breaking 35 minutes in 5k” Which turned into “I’m happy just getting to 32” Which turned into recently “I’d like to run a 25 minute 5k soon”
Running has changed my life. Rather I run, therefore I changed my life. The days I was still grossly overweight and it was raining, cold or windy were the hardest days to get outside. However, I really believe those were the days that “defined” me. I tell new runners all the time: “The days you really don’t want to do it? Do it anyway. Those are the days that count.”
So far I have lost 110 pounds with more to come soon. I have run 3 Half Marathons (including the Runners World Hat Trick) and too many 5ks, 8ks, 10ks and other distances to count!
I never set out to inspire anyone but myself. But I am now a mentor for the First Strides program. Nothing makes me happier than motivating other women to do their best. Not just in running, but in life.
I can honestly say, I will never stop running. Not willingly anyway. I’m not a star runner. But I know that if can put on running shoes and run 13 miles and ENJOY it, anything is possible.