GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - Big League wife Alisha Perkins has written a book about running. But, you need to know, it’s so much more than that. It’s a book about how running helped her overcome her anxiety. It’s an honest look at her life, and the real struggles she’s faced, and how important it is to share that message with other people.
And, let’s be honest here, not everyone loves running. Some people simply need it.
“I felt like I was constantly on edge. I was constantly stressed out. I felt like I wasn’t being a good mom or wife because I couldn’t deal with what was happening in my head,” says Perkins.
At first Alisha didn’t know she needed running, she just knew she needed something.
“There was one day at spring training that I was exhausted, I had two toddlers and Glen got home from the field and I was just like, “I’m going for a run,”” she explains.
“I went out there and I did my two miles and I couldn’t go home yet, so I ended up running five that day and felt like the quintessential runner’s high and then I was kind of hooked.” “That day something happened. I came back, I could deal with the kids better, I could deal with Glen better, you know, and he noticed a change too,” says Alisha.
That started her love affair with running. She ran a lot. Alisha worked up to marathons and recently just finished an ultra, but something else happened during all those miles, Alisha started blogging about her running in an open, honest way.
“I just kind of felt that with bearing my honesty with running, I had to be truthful in why I ran as well. So, I kind of wrote, sat down and wrote a post about the anxiety piece of it in October 2014, and after that I got such a positive response from people,” she says.
“So, I just kind of was like, maybe I should tell the whole story. And, so I sat down and was writing in my free time and before I knew it, I had a book.”
Running Home is her story about overcoming anxiety and not being afraid to talk about it. About being a big league wife and not having the model life that everyone assumes. About letting you know, all that, is okay.
“I think people think of me, Glen’s wife, Glen Perkins’ wife, and they probably have an idea of what they think I’m like, so I just wanted to say, whatever you think, it might not be true. I’m totally just like everyone else and I struggle with the same thing. I think everyone has something, nobody’s life is perfect, so I hope that it just starts the conversation and makes people feel more comfortable. You know, maybe they say she can go on TV and say it, I can say it to my best friend.”
Alisha’s book Running Home comes out on May 31st. You can find it on Amazon, at Mill City Running or her website.
Also sign up for the 5th annual Fifteen’s 5k, a race put on by Glen and Alisha Perkins every year. Proceeds go to The Prairie Care Child & Family Fund.