For a beginner author, writing the last page is a lot like crossing a marathon finish line, according to local writer Margreet Dietz, who recently published her first book entitled Running Shoes Are a Girl's Best Friend.
"For a long time you know you can do it but until you do, you don't really believe," she said.
Inspired by a passion for running, Dietz set out to collect the stories behind other women's reasons for zipping out the door whenever busy lifestyles allow. She interviewed more than 50 women from the ages of 24 to 59 in hopes of inspiring others who may feel inclined to become more active but are hesitant to take the first step.
One tale of two busy working mothers in Australia explores how they progressed from walking regularly to running two marathons. Their friendship strengthened as they made sacrifices together, like waking up at 5:30 a.m. to fit in runs before work, in pursuit of a greater sense of wellbeing.
"I don't think it's necessarily about working up to marathons. I think it's about inspiring women to lead an active lifestyle and one way to do it is running," said Dietz.
"But it starts really small and before you know it you can do something you didn't think you'd ever be able to do before."
Dietz started running in 1996 when she was a student spending too much time at a desk. She wanted to feel healthier and lose a bit of weight.
But her first attempt at running lasted all of about five minutes. She planned on jogging to a nearby park to start her run but was too fatigued to reach the park.
Weeks later, however, while she was trotting happily around that very park, Dietz looked down at her watch and was surprised that she'd been running for an hour.
"I just felt such a rush from that realization. Physically, I felt good afterwards but that's the first time I realized that if you keep going at a doable pace then you feel good during it as well," she said.
This summer, Dietz completed her 11th career 42-kilometre race 15th overall just five weeks after placing second in her category and 100th overall amongst nearly 3,000 participants at the Vancouver Marathon with a time of three hours 10 minutes 19 seconds.
The book stresses the importance of respecting personal goals and going at your own pace. And according to Dietz's running coach, world class Australian marathoner Pat Carroll, accomplishments like Dietz's can inspire the average reader because they are fuelled by a joy of running and a desire to improve.
"Margreet is slightly further back in the pack; however, the effort she puts in is equal to that of the elite," he said via email. "This is the great thing about running: everyone can have their own individual goals and two runners finishing one hour apart are equally respected for the effort applied."
Dietz's self-published work is available online as an e-book. The 373-page book costs $10 and can be found at http://www.booklocker.com/books/4386.html.
