Artista,

I will chime in here because I am also not a natural runner, never ran in high school (avoided all sports, in fact). I started jogging just a bit in college, but it was only done to lose weight, not because I wanted to be a "runner". I am sure my longest run then was two miles.

I never ran again until a few years ago (in my late 40s), and it is not something that came easily to me either. I have only done a few runs of five miles in my entire lifetime. For the past couple of years, I mostly ran on the treadmill at the gym at work 2-3x a week, 3-3.5 miles was my usual, at a slowish pace.

We moved to Belize in August, and I realized I wouldn't be able to do the long road rides that were my fitness mainstay in North Carolina. We do have bikes, but they're beach cruisers for the sandy roads and beaches here, and there are very few paved roads where we live.

So I started up running again. It was intensely hot when I started, back in September, and I started with very short, slow runs. At times I could barely make 1.5 to 2 miles, because it was so hot and sunny, even very early in the morning. I felt like my heart was going to fly right out of my chest. I was not acclimated to the heat/humidity at all, even after living in NC. But I made a habit of running three mornings a week, and as of today, finally have hit the five mile mark again! And I did my first-ever 5K back in November. I wasn't fast (30:28 was my time), but I finished, and I was pretty proud of that!

I read Chi Running and several of John Bingham's running books (http://www.amazon.com/John-Bingham/e/B001ILIFC0) and all were super helpful. I don't push myself to go too fast or too far, and I have managed to completely avoid injury despite never having a formal shoe fitting, gait analysis, or coach. I do feel fortunate for that, especially since all of these things are probably near about impossible to find where I live now.

I guess the purpose of my post is just to encourage you not to give up. Just last week, I was berating myself for not being a real runner, whatever that is, as I just barely pushed out a 3.75-mile run. But this morning I did 5.1 with ease, and I realized that the difference was the weather (sun/heat last week vs. overcast/cool today). Today I felt like a runner!

Running is definitely not easy -- if it were, everyone would do it. But if you stick with it, don't try to do too much too soon, there's a good chance you'll eventually come to enjoy it. I know I felt on top of the world today both on and after my run, and it's made me all the more enthusiastic and itchy for more. So, like cycling, running really can get under your skin, as GLC's post also illustrated. It can become fun and something you look forward to.

Good luck!