I can still remember my fear, my dread five years ago says Joan Chrissos who is running the Fitbit Miami half Marathon Sunday

"I ran a minute, walked a minute, Ran, Walked, Ran, Walked, For 30 minutes, says Joan Chrissos. "That was my first day of training for the Miami Half Marathon five years ago. I can still remember my fear, my dread.

"I was 58 and hadn’t run since my senior year of high school when I was one of eight girls on the boys’ track team. It was not that I loved running, but rather I was making a political statement at age 17.

"Fast forward to that October morning and my first training session with TeamFootWorks, the nonprofit running program of FootWorks, the family-owned store in South Miami that will begin its 46th year on May 15. TeamFootWorks has trained thousands of people to run a marathon, a half marathon or a 5K, people like me, who never thought they could master such a feat."

Joan has already run 10 half marathons so far. 

"I’ve run in Halloween costumes (OK, a Halloween shirt). I’ve run in 40-degree weather. I’ve run in rain (Ugh!). And I’ve chugged up and down the hills of Nashville, which are beautiful but killer on the last mile.

"Along the way, I’ve lost weight, gained muscle, eaten healthier, slept better, gotten closer to my husband Ken (who is running the full marathon on Sunday) and learned to break down complex challenges to manageable tasks, literally one step at a time.

"Most importantly, I’ve gained a rich circle of friends. We have sweated side by side, yelling “We’ve got this!” as we make our way past each mile post. We’ve laughed. We’ve cried. We’ve celebrated the birth of children, and mourned the death of loved ones.

"And every Saturday, after our runs, we treat ourselves to breakfast, dissecting our performance and the latest in our lives over eggs, grits and café con leche."

posted Thursday January 24th