In high school when I had to run the mile, I hated it. My friend was my motivator and got me through it in eight and a half minutes. I only ran that though because I had to.

That is the longest I've run until last month. I was hanging out with my brother and sister-in-law, and they mentioned how they'd gone on a run that morning. My brother also hates running, so I was confused and when I asked why, he told me they were running the Pumpkins in the Park 5K.

Somehow, by the time I left, I was signed up for the 5K. So I had to train for it in just over a month.

As I started my training, my mind kept running through thoughts like "why am I running? I could be walking," and "what is the point of this exactly?" I was running outside so I was going somewhere, but I still didn't see a point to running.

A week or so into my training, scary things happened in Rogers Park. In the course of 48 hours, two people were killed with the same gun. I barely felt safe walking alone to class. My roommates and I coordinated walking home, or sharing 8 rides to avoid being alone.

On top of not wanting to walk home, I didn't want to do outside runs anymore. Off to the treadmill I went, and my mind went crazy with the "where am I going" thoughts because I wasn't going anywhere.

As the race came closer, I was adding on to the distance I was able to run. I went to Atlanta and in 90-degree heat and direct sunlight, I ran just under 2 miles.

Race day came, October 20th, and it snowed. It was windy and cold and it snowed as we started the race. About a mile in, I wanted to quit. My nose was running, I was cold, and I really didn't see the point to the race. My sister-in-law stuck with me though. She kept pushing me to continue on, asking me about how life was and trying to keep my mind off the fact I was running.

I walked short distances just a couple of times, but my sister-in-law said: "you're going to start running again by that tree" and I did. I had friends at the water station, which was such a surprise, but it got me through.

We ended up with a 37 minute time, which was pretty surprising to me. It was pretty fast.

The next day, my brother and sister-in-law asked if I wanted to run a turkey trot. While I don't know if I want to yet since it will be even colder, I won't say I will never run a 5K again. I felt really accomplished, and it did help me feel more fit!

I still hate running, but maybe that will change at some point.