My Running Story

My journey into the sport of running began 5 years ago when I was tired of being overweight and out of shape. I was active until I reached college where I became as sedentary as a rock, quite smitten drinking a 32oz Coke every morning followed by meals of hamburgers and fries.

What started as a bad habit became a way of life after college. I had always been 110lbs standing 5'1" so a 40lb weight gain made me look horrible. I did every wrong diet you could think of including eating only carrots and water in order to fit into my wedding dress at 115lbs. Needless to say, the weight always crept back on. The final straw for me happened when I saw my fat photos after a trip to Seattle. I took action right away and my husband and I joined Jenny Craig and began running to get proper diet and exercise in check.

We went out and bought a treadmill immediately so that it would be as convenient as possible. I won't lie and tell you that starting from scratch was easy. I was in some serious, out of shape, labored breathing, jiggly nastiness the first time I got on the treadmill. I wanted to stop because I couldn't run more than 1/4 mile before stopping to walk, but each day I increased my running length a bit more until I could do a mile, then 2 miles, then up to 8 miles. I remember the first time I ran 3.1 miles outside without stopping, I started crying. I couldn't believe how far I'd come. The transformation that happened to my body was a miracle as the fat and weight just seemed to disappear.
After a few months, I no longer needed Jenny Craig and used the healthy eating habits I learned to continue to lose weight.

I always told myself I would run a marathon "one day" but never ran further than 8 miles even though my training weeks were 35-40 miles in total. My New Years resolution this year was to run a fall marathon. I couldn't wait that long so I signed up for the OC Marathon in May and began my training in January. During the process, I ran a couple of half marathons before the big event and was immediately addicted to the excitement and community of the events. This year, I've run 2 marathons and 4 half marathons with more on the calendar before the year is up.

Running has become so integrated in my life and something that I truly enjoy. It allows me to clear my head after a stressful day at work and gives me a reason to set goals so that I can keep improving. I'm also very fortunate to have a husband who is supportive even though he thinks I'm crazy.

2012 San Francisco Marathon

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