Happy May, everyone! Wait, what? It's hard to believe it's already May, especially because it feels as though Spring really hasn't begun. It has been 40s and rainy in Boston for the past couple weeks, and it's becoming hard to keep the positivity going. So, for anyone who is feeling down in the dumps, I'd like to share a bit of good news.

The other night I went for a run after work, and truly, for the first time in my life enjoyed every moment of a run. I used to talk a lot about how I felt when I was swimming; totally relaxed, in tune with a natural rhythm that made me feel as if I could keep going forever. Swimming doesn't always feel physically taxing, because I love doing it. Tuesday night, as I completed my 2.5 mile loop around East Cambridge, I felt as though I was swimming. I loved it.

This is good news to anyone who is sitting on their couch thinking about getting up and trying to run for the first time because 7 months ago I couldn't run a block without needing to walk. I started a couch to 5k program in October and I stuck with it. Now, I am up to running 3.5 miles without walking a foot, and what I find most impressive is that I am having fun. I sit at work excited to go home and lace up my sneakers. It's my transition from afternoon to evening, and it makes me feel so much better than sitting on the couch ever could.

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As I am training for a 10k at the end of June, my weekend runs are scheduled to get longer and longer. I was really nervous going into this because it seems crazy that a former couch potato could run 6 miles, but now that I am getting into it and loving it, I know I'll make it. It's mostly mental, and that really is the hardest part: psyching yourself up; pushing yourself until you can't anymore. The physical ability builds itself, with each run you will feel yourself getting stronger.

It takes time, but you, like me, can do it. I have been overweight, mostly sedentary, and generally pessimistic about athletics my entire twenty-three years, but here I am, and I want you all to stand tall next to me, because you can be here too.