TFG: Hi Krissie! Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions about your journey to lose weight and become a runner. You've kept a blog for well over three years now at http://www.questionsfordessert.com what brought you into the blogging world and how has it helped you to achieve your goals?
Krissie: I'm not really sure why I decided to start blogging. I remember reading a few blogs and thinking that I had finally found people like me - people who would understand me. It's funny for me to go back and read my first post and see how long I spun my wheels before I really made the commitment to those goals. I don't know that I would have made significant progress without my blog. I don't have a system in real life that indulges me to let me talk incessantly about myself. That's not who I am in the real world. My blog is just like a journal with accountability and feedback and suggestions. It really has been the key to keep me going.
TFG: Can you talk a little about how and why you became a runner and how this new identity has helped you with other health related goals?
Krissie: You know, I've wanted to be a runner ever since I was in college. I dated a guy who was a runner and he always wanted me to run with him. I was not interested. Then, when we broke up, I started running to spite him (healthy, huh?). When I started dating my husband, I didn't need running to fill that void anymore, so I stopped running. At the time, I was running maybe 2 miles at a time a few times a week. But it wasn't for me. For the past few years, I wanted to run for me.
I can't preach running enough. It, like blogging, has been absolutely necessary to my success. The desire to be a runner and actually becoming a runner has pushed me every day. I set a goal, I create a schedule, and I have to follow it. If I miss a few days and it messes up the schedule, I don't know how I'll do in the race. So if the schedule says I need to run today, I run today. It's that easy. It takes the guess work and the emotion out of the plan. I follow the schedule. No argument.
TFG: Speaking of identities, how has the "I'm a runner" identity helped you to stay focused on your goals? Before you started running on a regular basis, how did you mentally see a runners life as being?
Krissie: This "I'm a runner" identity has been huge for me. I know my readers tire of hearing that statement (I've got the comments and emails to prove it), but it think it is probably what I see as my biggest achievement, other than my marriage. Being a runner changes the way I make my food choices. Being a runner changes the way I look at sleep and alcohol and even laundry. Being a runner keeps me focused on the big picture because the big picture has such an affect on my running.
I really didn't ever think that a runner's life would be this involved. I honestly thought I'd just lace up my shoes and run. I thought that's what runners did. I love that I'm learning it's so much more than that.
TFG:What advice would you give to those who are struggling with a fitness identity and how has this mold helped your process?
Krissie: Wow. I'm still shocked when I realize that I have a fitness identity. How cool is that? I don't know exactly why I was bit by the running bug, but it has been a large part of my motivation long before I was able to run. I've been driven by running for such a long time. I always felt like I'd know I'd made it when I was able to run a 5K. Now I'm not sure I'll ever feel like I've made it. There'll always be longer or faster or harder to run. And I love that.
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