Obviously, I am a runner. If you know me or have been on this site or my social media before, you’ll know that it is easily my favorite exercise. But do you know why and why it means so much to me? Do you know how life-changing running can be? You’re about to 🙂

My Story

Back in middle school, circa 2007, I played all the sports. Volleyball, basketball, and at least 2 different soccer teams at a time. And Cross Country. Not by choice, but because my monster of a basketball coach made us. If we wanted to play basketball in the fall/winter, we had to run cross country in the summer/early fall to “stay in shape” Looking back now, I would not say that is the same kind of conditioning (endurance vs, sprints), but the idea was sound. The goal was to make sure we weren’t just wasting away on the couch all summer and losing all the conditioning for which we worked so hard in the winter.

So I ran.

And ran.

And ran forever and ever. Miles and miles in the 100 degree heat and humidity of Nashville. Vividly remember a Thursday morning practice running by the school sign that read 113 degrees. It was a little hot.

I hated every second of it. Absolutely dreaded it. Not one moment did I enjoy running for the 3 years I had to do it in middle school. I pushed and finished, and I swore I’d never run another mile off the field or court again.

High School. College. And Beyond.

One random day in high school, I remember coming home from a particularly rough day at school and just deciding to go for a run. No recollection what happened or why, but running called to me. The anger called to me. So I ran. And I felt better.

The next day, same thing. Must’ve been a rough week for high-school BK. I picked up this hobby to cope with whatever stressful emotions high school lent me.

College, first year, I was a lard. I did absolutely nothing healthy. I embraced the full college experience and basically stopped moving for about 9 months. But come the summer after freshmen year, and I picked up fitness again, and that was when I used the weight room for the first time. I wouldn’t say I fell in love with lifting, but it was fun to feel strong. 🙂

Through college and my time in a little farm town of west TN, I ran as a way to pass the time, as a way to set myself apart from everyone else. None of my friends ran or worked out, and that made me feel special, elite.

Young Adulthood–Welcome, Knoxville.

Enter Knoxville. Enter relationship I brought from college into adulthood. Enter absolutely zero money.

This time in my life was the most formative and traumatic few years for a handful of reasons, but out of it came Foundation Fitness. See, our household was very poor. A single-income household where I made about $11/hour and had rent at about $1100 (more than half of my income!). I was trying my hardest to make ends meet. I could barely afford food and regularly had to put things back on the shelf after getting up to the register and totaling it all up.

A gym membership was inaccessible. Workout equipment was inaccessible. Food was almost inaccessible, never mind cute workout attire.

But you know what I could do? Run. And use the apartment gym facility. And use YouTube to source free yoga and other workouts.

That’s where Foundation Fitness Co. was born. Not started officially until 2024, but in my head since then. Fitness is accessible to everyone, regardless of income, weight, race, anything else you can think of. If you have a body and a mind, you can move toward health. Simple as that.

Life Change

I don’t have a weight loss story where I lost hundreds of pounds or overcame a disability or lifted a car. My story is a dig-yourself-out-of-the-lowest-point-financially,-mentally,-emotionally-by-using-what-I-had-available-to-me-for-free kind of story. Fitness and running are the only things that I’ve had my whole life. In sickness and health, for richer or poorer. And that’s why Foundation Fitness Co. exists. Just because you don’t have money for a one-on-one trainer at your local gym doesn’t mean that you cannot improve your health and longevity.

I was able to lean into free fitness and nutrition. I brushed up on my anatomy and began learning how to use those muscles.

In a time when I had almost nothing, I had legs that could run.

Flash forward to now, I’m a certified personal trainer, I’ve completed countless 5ks, a 10k, two 15ks, and a half marathon, not to mention all the runs to train for those. Running is in my blood. But it doesn’t have to be in yours.

Of course I hope that everyone falls in love with running and decides to take that path. The reality, though: not everyone likes it, and that’s okay. However, as a means of budget-friendly exercise, it’s a great choice.

Benefits and Drawbacks

• Great for your heart – Running just 5 to 10 minutes a day at a slow pace can significantly reduce your risk of death from cardiovascular disease, according to a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. That’s 5 minutes. You probably spend more time scrolling Instagram. It helps improve circulation, lowers blood pressure, and strengthens the heart muscle—especially important if heart issues run in your family.
• Leg muscles development – the plyometric training involved in the running steps you take, plus the strength you gain in your legs usually transforms what they look like fairly quick with proper strength training
• Weight loss and management – when running regularly, the exercise you get can help manage your weight. (This is not from JUST running, this is from a regular routine of exercising and moving your body. No gimmicks here.)
• You can do it ANYWHERE. this is how I explore new places on vacation. I run most mornings, leaving my hotel in a different direction each time. You see a very intimate side of a city or town when you run through its streets..
• You can do it WITH KIDS. Strollers are wonderful tools. Pop those kids in there and go. Toddler wants to run? Take him out and let him run til he’s tired, then pop him back in and go.
• Possible drawback: if you have more than 100 lbs of excess weight, running will be too hard on your joints. (Start with walking.)
• Possible drawback: if you have medically bad knees (not just the creaky ones from aging), the impact of running might be too much for your joints. Start with walking and work your way here.

All this doesn’t even talk about the mental side of running, but a sneak peak into another article: running can help with anxiety, depression, and stress management. AND YOU CAN MAKE FRIENDS. More on that soon!

If you want to join the Foundations Run Club you can sign up here! Right now we’re doing in-person runs in the Knoxville area, but I want to open it up virtually so we can help as many people as we can find a community of runners. Everything is more fun with friends.

–BK