For years, I said “someday.” Then I took my first step.

I grew up without knowing my father. Addiction in my family, foster homes and residential care shaped my childhood. I often moved from one place to another, when all I really wanted was a family and a sense of belonging.

Later, I struggled with alcohol and drugs myself. That is part of my story. But it does not tell my whole story.

On December 5, 2003, I stopped using alcohol and drugs. I have not used either since.

I built a life, raised my four children and worked hard. I spent more than a decade driving trucks and ran my own transport business. I had come a long way. Still, there was one dream I kept putting off: running.

In 2024, reconnecting and talking with people from my foster family brought that wish back to life. When they talked about running, their eyes lit up. I wanted to understand that happiness. I wanted to experience it myself.

So I started. And I realized how far I had to go. Red-faced and out of breath, I could not run two or three kilometres. I honestly wondered whether I could do it. I had to start by walking.

I walked about 400 kilometres before I could run a few kilometres. My first nonstop five kilometres took nearly fifty minutes. I almost cried.

I kept going. One walk, one run, one workout at a time, sport became part of my life. I lost weight, gained strength and found new energy. I smiled more and became more positive.

Today, running contributes to my balance alongside sobriety, family and work. It came long after I stopped drinking and using drugs, but it added something precious to the life I had rebuilt: the joy of discovering what I can still do.

I have put months of personal work into it because I know what starting means. I know the doubt, the breathlessness and the little voice that says, “Maybe this isn’t for me.”

I want someone who comes here to be able to say, “I can start as I am. I can go at my own pace. I belong here too.”

I’m building CoachRunning to help you organize your progress, find useful tools and, if you want, look for a coach’s support. I hope to see a community grow where first steps matter as much as long distances.