About five years ago I thought I needed to leave this newspaper and find a way to get paid to write about technology.

That thought persisted until January 2011 when I spent a week at the Consumer Electronics Show blogging for a cell phone forum I help moderate. I realized that I don’t love technology enough to get paid to write about it daily. I’m a gadget geek — no doubt about that. I’ve been through more cell phones in the past six years than most people will ever use in a lifetime. I get new stuff when it comes out. I bought the first Windows phone when it was offered on the carrier I use. When the Kindle Fire was announced, I pre-ordered one. We have an iPad. I use a small personal laptop for work, a Windows 8 machine with a touchscreen, in addition to the full size laptop and desktop we have at home. As soon as the newest Android phones are available on my carrier I will get one — the new HTC most likely.

There’s my geek cred. I could go on, but, I think you get the idea.

As many readers know, I have a new obsession: running.

This hasn’t supplanted my love of technology, it fits in alongside that and complements my passion for sports.

Were it not for my tech geek status, though, I wouldn’t have recognized the moment I officially became a running geek. Over the years, I’ve been offered jobs by store managers where cell phones and service are sold because I often knew more than the employees or even the manager. It’s simultaneously embarrassing and ego-boosting when that happens.

Now, I haven’t been offered a job at a shoe store yet, but I discovered recently that I know more about running shoes now than any sales associate I’ve encountered, even the ones in the specialty store I like to shop in. I won’t, however, look for a job to sell shoes. I promise. One thing I learned while at CES is while it is good to love what you do for a living, sometimes what you love is better as a hobby than a job.

At one time I spent a fair amount of my free time reading about gadgets while plotting how I could get my hands on the latest and greatest. Now I spend my time reading about running shoes or gear, thinking about my last run and plotting when I will go on my next run or researching what races I should sign up for.

Recently I went out to dinner with friends. Two of them are runners and the third was not. Our poor friend who does not run could hardly get a word in edgewise. Then the fire alarm for the building went off, we had to clear out, and by the time we could go back in my daughter was done for the night — so not much opportunity to talk about anything other than running.

I encourage people to try the program I used to start running called Couch to 5K. It’s awesome. My level of fitness at the end of that was incredible and it improves every week. It’s a great way to start, especially for anyone who thinks she hates running or could never do what I’ve done. Nonsense. If I can become a runner then absolutely anyone can.

What I find interesting are the people who tell me I inspire them to get out and get fit. That was what compelled me to write the Fitness Journeys series which ran in the paper in February. I’m not the only one with an inspiring story and I hoped someone might finally take that first step toward better health.

In my case, I knew I had to make a change last summer and I am lucky enough to have incredible friends who supported my effort to get healthy. As a mom with Type 2 diabetes it is imperative to me to live a long life not just for myself, but for my daughter. She deserves what I didn’t have growing up. My dad was a Type 1 diabetic, the insulin-dependent kind, who died three weeks before his 47th birthday. I will do everything within my power to not miss out on her childhood.

But, being the kind of person who overdoes it, I didn’t just say to myself last summer, ‘I want to run a 5K. Let’s cross that off the list.’ No, I decided I wanted to run at least six 5K races by the end of June then train to run 10Ks this summer with the eventual goal being to run a half marathon in the second half of 2014. What excited me about running was the seemingly never-ending goals to improve times, increase mileage or try different events. There are mud runs, color runs, triathlon relays and so on.

Then there’s the social element of running which I love. This sport has an entire subculture and I love running on the Cedar River Trail on Saturdays, smiling and saying good morning to my fellow runners. My husband went through the Couch to 5K program with me in the fall. A trio of my friends did my first 5K with me, the Jingle Bell Run, even though I was slower and brought my daughter along. My friend Ilyse was with me every step of that race and just ran the Mercer Island Rotary 5K, which is part of a larger event that includes a 10K and a half marathon, for fun.

The support I’ve gotten from my family has been incredible, too. My in-laws bought me a fancy, expensive Garmin GPS running watch for Christmas, along with water bottles and exercise gear. All the kind words have been wonderful, too, from everyone I meet.

Ryan Light, a Maple Valley resident I’ve interviewed twice in the past year about running, wrote in an interview for the series that running has changed his life. I know exactly what he means. I am thankful for the changes I’ve experienced and not just the health benefits, though it’s nice to lose 40 pounds while getting my diabetes under tight control it’s even better to be able to handle the stress of life as a mom, wife and journalist.

I also look forward to the events in the area I get to participate in. It was great fun to be the only runner at the Out of the Darkness suicide prevention and awareness walk at Tahoma High in February. I’m looking forward to running the Bra Dash 5K at Lake Wilderness Park Sept. 15. In 2012 I walked in the inaugural event, my first 5K of any kind, and it will be quite a moment to run across the finish line in an event in the city I live in that does such good work supporting research to find a cure for breast cancer. I’ll be on the lookout for more events like that not far from home.

And then there’s the constant search for running gear. I am obsessed with running shoes. I have just found a pair I am in love with but that hasn’t deterred me from trying to find a good deal on a second pair from another brand I’ve read good things about. Last year’s models are on sale right now. I’ve tried to convince my husband the running gear habit isn’t nearly as expensive as the gadget habit but so far he’s not buying it. In addition to shoes, there’s the ID tag for my laces so I don’t have to carry my wallet, the earbuds I got for my iPod which won’t fall out no matter how much I sweat, and the clothes.

Here’s the funny part: I have a lot of pink running gear now. Yes, the woman who said a few years ago right in this very column how much I hate pink. It’s amazing how my attitude has changed now that a close friend is a breast cancer survivor. Pink is a bright color, too, so I don’t have to worry as much about someone in Maple Valley driving a giant, lifted pick up truck seeing me.

I’ll always love technology but in the end, it’s not something I could earn a living doing, nor can it truly change my life the way running has so, I guess I have to accept my fate. I confess, I am a running addict, and I wouldn’t change for anything.

Anyway, I think I need to go see if I can find last year’s model of the Mizuno shoes I just bought and sign up for the Torchlight Run in July. See you on race day.