If you look back at my “fitness” category of posts, you’ll find three that date before today. Three. And one of those was about starting the C25K program. That was way back on May 27th.

If you’re familiar with the C25K plan, it’s a schedule of walk/run days that progress to only running over the course of nine weeks.

Today’s date? Not nine weeks later.

What happened back in May was that I started running right when temperatures started to go into the triple digits. Not the optimal conditions for a non-conditioned person to make a foray into the world of outdoor fitness.

So my dreams of being a runner were put on hold. Again.

Fast forward to early October. That’s when my friend said she wanted to run a half marathon and needed a volunteer to run with her. Aha! Motivation. A tangible goal and deadline. Those are just what I needed to get my rhombus-butt back in gear.

I dug out my C25K podcasts, threw on my running shoes, and headed out the door. I had a lingering cough from a cold that I couldn’t seem to kick, but I was determined to run. My breathing was labored. My chest burned. Very, very badly. But I made it around the neighborhood following the plan.

Then a couple of days later, I couldn’t take a breath without feeling a sharp, stabbing pain in my chest. I started joking that I might have pneumonia. A trip to the doctor and a set of x-rays later, it was confirmed: pneumonia AND pleurisy. Running was on hold again.

Two months and a few different antibiotics later, I was stepping into my running shoes again.

December 5, 2010 is the day I finally started running on a regular basis. Since I’ve managed to stick to it this time, it’s the day I can look back on as the day I became a runner.

I’ve run a lot in the past three months. At first, I was so excited by my progress that I was actually adding in extra running days and was on a fast track to overtraining and running myself down. So I scaled back and completed the C25K program as planned. I’ve since started on an accelerated program to get in shape for the half marathon.

Last weekend, I ran SIX MILES. From not being able to run 30 seconds to running six miles in three months.

I am a runner.

No. More than that…

I AM A RUNNER!!!