Overcoming Fibromyalgia to Run Again

A bit of positive news for me today! I used to be an avid runner (half marathons were my easy runs) but my fibromyalgia flare ups over the last 3 years have kept me from running more than a mile or 2 at a time. I was very frustrated for a very long time about how I could not move the way that I wanted to but I really did not want to just lay down without a fight. I started meditating to lower my stress levels and control my emotions (which we knew can trigger major flare ups) and I started eating much cleaner foods and taking supplements (B-12, D3, and Magnesium). I also quit a job with a very toxic environment and switched to a job that felt better emotionally. Over the last few months, I started slowly training for running again. I started with less than a mile (quite painful and exhausting). A few weeks later, I got up to 2 miles consistently. Another few weeks later, I got to a 5k. After this is when things started to take off. What I noticed is that my pain would subside as I got deeper into my runs. What felt like a flare up would transition into just general soreness that I can handle. Today, I ran 8 miles straight for the first time in almost 3 years. I am a lot slower than I used to be since I packed on weight from the severely diminished activity levels but this felt like an amazing accomplishment. I know that things can seem really bleak for all of us sometimes but we are all warriors facing this challenge that the universe handed us. We either fold or we fight. I hope that we all choose to fight.