My Missouri Life
I hated running until I needed it.
After a hip surgery at 15 years old, I developed chronic lower back pain. By 20, after years of visits to spine specialists and no diagnosis, the doctors were at a loss. “Just take anti-inflammatory medication and refrain from activities that involve running,” they said,
Missouri Life associate editor Sydney Jones.
Easy, I thought. I hate running. I had never even run more than two miles at a time.
After several years of trying different forms of exercise, including team sports, yoga, and weight training, nothing stuck. Eventually, I phased out of exercise altogether, and without strengthening my core and back muscles, my symptoms worsened.
When I began working at Missouri Life full time, it was winter, turning into spring. From the office windows, I watched the world come back to life. I saw the Katy Trail bloom with lush green trees and native flowers. Ivy climbed up historic homes on Central Street. The Meriwether Café and Bike Shop in Rocheport was a revolving door of bikers, hikers, and runners enjoying the outdoors. I secretly felt like I was missing out.
One day, Andrea Kaneko (Missouri Life’s other associate editor) mentioned that she was going for a run on the trail after work. I’d had a hard week mentally and physically, and wanted to blow off some steam. Without thinking much about it, I asked if I could join her.
Passing under tree canopies, running parallel to the Missouri River, and flying through patches of coolness where the trail butted up against granite rock, I found myself immersed in the experience of trail running. This was not like the dreaded high school track I remembered. Andrea and I completed a three-mile run and chatted the entire time. It blindsided me completely because it didn’t feel like exercise; it felt like fun.
From then on, we laced up our shoes several times a week during our lunch break or after work. Running became an avenue for joy and an active way for me to shed stress and release tension.
After a few months of training, we signed up for our first 5K race and beat our record time by two seconds. A month later, on a whim, we decided to sign up for a 10K race. We had only two weeks to train (which is not advisable, but that is what we did) and made the trip to the race in Kansas City on a hot Saturday in August.
Crossing the finish line at that 10K remains one of my proudest moments. Not because of time or placement on the roster—Andrea and I finished at just over an hour—but because I proved to myself that I could do the training, be brave enough to make the trip, and complete the distance.
Interestingly, I’ve experienced less back pain since I have been running. With good shoes, proper recovery, and listening to my body when it needs rest, running has become one of the most effective forms of therapy I’ve found. In my case, recovery has looked much different than how the specialists suggested it would. I spent years trying to avoid running, but I found so much that was ready to heal when I did.
This article was originally printed in the March/April 2026 issue of Missouri Life.
