After speaking with my younger brother I can now up my count to three and a half conversions. That is to say 3 1/2 people I've successfully converted to running addicts.
During the past year my 35 year old brother has lost 40 lbs or more. It's given him the extra energy he needed so he could feel like he could run. A couple of weeks ago he finished his first 5k and is scheduled to run another 5k this Saturday with my dad.
My dad is convert #2. When I ran my first marathon my parents drove 6 hours to cheer me on and see me cross the finish line. Soon after that my dad started asking me questions about how to start out running and what kind of shoes to buy. Shortly after that he ran his first 5k in everyday gym shoes and his jeans and having never run for more than 2 miles. My 65 year old dad is now scheduled to run his first half marathon in July. I can't wait to run it with him.
Speaking of half marathons, my first ever race was a half marathon. After I'd been jogging for a month I set the 13.1 mile goal. Soon after I got my #1 conversion: my husband. We trained together the whole summer and it was great. Every Saturday we got a date together and got healthy at the same time. I loved sharing all the "firsts" with my husband. The first time ever I'd run 4 miles or 10 miles was with my husband by my side. We made a perfect team. He was good at the start of the long runs and I was a good finisher. Before our first half marathon he said "it's been great and all but it's too much work, I think I'm done with this running thing." Of course now he has completed more half marathons than I have. He's also gotten much faster than me. We can no longer go on runs together. But we still support each other every step of the way.
My half conversion is my older brother. He's now trying hard to lose a little more weight so that he can more safely and comfortably run. I've already got him hooked on the running gadgets so I know he'll become fully converted soon.
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