Dear Mrs. Armstrong

For my four short years at Confederation High School, formerly of Nepean. You pushed me to run. Running, you said, is good for you, you will love it. Every year you made us run six laps around the football field. We had to do this run to pass our class. Every year I strotted along, not really caring all that much about the 15 or 20 minutes it took me to run.

In my last year, you gave me a challenge. You told me I should be able to run my six laps in 9 minutes or less. HA! You encouraged me with an "A" if I could do it. So, with that in mind, I started training. The first training I had ever done, running laps around my neighbourhood. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a total sloth, I spent years in dance classes, was a cheerleader, played soccer, touch football, volleyball (occaisionally) and basketball, if I felt like it. I was just never a runner. So, I set out to prove Mrs. Armstrong right. And right she was. With a bit of extra training I was able to run it in just under 9 minutes. It was a hot June day, scorching acctually, and I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion. But, I did it.

Fast forward a couple of years. I stopped all form of true excercise, minus riding my motorcycle, so I set out to jog again. I kept that up for about a year and that was it. I took up walking, working and dancing at clubs. I then became a waitress and worked on my feet and therefore did not need to excercise for a good 7 or 8 years. It. Was. Great.

Now that we have a treadmill, and I am addicted to using it every single day, I have started running a bit. First it was run for a minute, then two, three, four... now, I can run the entire 30 minutes or 3.5kms. Hubby ran his half marathon and is going for the full in the spring. How can I not run with him? We actually went for a run together on Sunday. A perfect fall day for running, J in the stroller.

So, Mrs. Armstrong, if you are out there, thank you and sorry for being such a pain in the butt all those 20 years ago. If only I had appreciated the joy of running that you tried to show me oh so long ago.

Sincerely,
BeachMama

p.s. Mr. Lamb from grades 5 and 6. If you are out there, sorry. You tried so hard to keep us all in shape making us run after first recess every day, even when the snow was knee deep. You wondered why I didn't run as fast as my Sister. The only reason was, I wasn't her. If only there were more teachers today like you and Mrs. Armstrong, I wouldn't be so worried about J starting school next year and not gettting excercise.