My Running Story
The other day someone asked about when and why I started running marathons and told me it was a great story, so I thought I would share since I don't know if many people know how the craziness started...(the long version)
Back in high school I hated running and would do anything to avoid it! I was a dancer and we ran as a warm up, I would find places to hide and only run the last part. In gym class I preferred to chat with my friends and walk then run and get sweaty, but the one time I decided to run the mile I actually finished around 6:00 not too bad someone who never ran, I guess I had the ability even back then. I even considered joining track, but then I realized how much running that would entail.
Now fast forward about 6 years to the summer of 2002, I was a newlywed, had just undergone abdominal surgery and was bored at home and crabby learning how to live on liquids for a month. I was thinking about all the things I wanted to accomplish in life and decided I wanted to run a marathon, nope not a 5K or half marathon, but a full marathon. I signed up to run the Disney Marathon, with the only goal of finishing. I trained, if you could call it that, through the fall and even went out and bought myself a treadmill in December when it got cold. Looking back I really didn't train smart, but then I had no clue what I was doing.
January 12, 2003 I finished my first marathon! It was cold and I think I was walking by the first water stop. I kept telling myself that I was going to finish, I would run a little and then walk until finally I could see the finishline! I had done it in 5:30, yikes I can do better than that. And so the craziness began...
Me finishing Disney Marathon (I'm the blond in back with ponytail)
Me after Disney Marathon
In October 2003, I finished my 2nd marathon better than my first by a small amount (5:05) and with a stress fracture in my foot, so I took some time off. When I started running again in 2004 I felt better and joined a group to train smarter, immediately my times started dropping. I have since run 8 marathons and taken almost 2 hours off my finish time and love to run. I now coach and am close to qualifying for Boston, which I never thought would happen when I started.
After Chicago 2006 (My 1st marathon back after injury, when I knew I had a chance at the Boston thing)
Back in high school I hated running and would do anything to avoid it! I was a dancer and we ran as a warm up, I would find places to hide and only run the last part. In gym class I preferred to chat with my friends and walk then run and get sweaty, but the one time I decided to run the mile I actually finished around 6:00 not too bad someone who never ran, I guess I had the ability even back then. I even considered joining track, but then I realized how much running that would entail.
Now fast forward about 6 years to the summer of 2002, I was a newlywed, had just undergone abdominal surgery and was bored at home and crabby learning how to live on liquids for a month. I was thinking about all the things I wanted to accomplish in life and decided I wanted to run a marathon, nope not a 5K or half marathon, but a full marathon. I signed up to run the Disney Marathon, with the only goal of finishing. I trained, if you could call it that, through the fall and even went out and bought myself a treadmill in December when it got cold. Looking back I really didn't train smart, but then I had no clue what I was doing.
January 12, 2003 I finished my first marathon! It was cold and I think I was walking by the first water stop. I kept telling myself that I was going to finish, I would run a little and then walk until finally I could see the finishline! I had done it in 5:30, yikes I can do better than that. And so the craziness began...
Me finishing Disney Marathon (I'm the blond in back with ponytail)
Me after Disney Marathon
In October 2003, I finished my 2nd marathon better than my first by a small amount (5:05) and with a stress fracture in my foot, so I took some time off. When I started running again in 2004 I felt better and joined a group to train smarter, immediately my times started dropping. I have since run 8 marathons and taken almost 2 hours off my finish time and love to run. I now coach and am close to qualifying for Boston, which I never thought would happen when I started.
After Chicago 2006 (My 1st marathon back after injury, when I knew I had a chance at the Boston thing)
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