The story, in a nutshell

I have been hesitant for a long time to start a blog about running. 

Writing or talking about my life as a runner never seemed quite natural to me. It took me a long time to even consider myself an athlete.  But, then something changed.  People started to tell me that they signed up for a 5K race because of me, because they had heard my story.   And that made me so happy.   Then, I became a coach and my life changed even more.  Coaching is the bonus- the absolute best gift an athlete can be given is the opportunity to give back. 

So, here is the story, in abbreviated version. There has been some blood, sweat, and tears involved here, but what happens on the trail/track stays on the trail, eh?

When I turned 30, I decided I would run a marathon. I was overweight,  getting over a failed relationship, and generally unhappy with where I was in my life.  Running a marathon seemed unfathomable to me. So, why not challenge myself to do the most difficult thing? In other words, I'd nearly lost it!

On the first day of training for that first marathon, I fell off the sidewalk, sprained my ankle and tore my tibial tendon.  I spent the month of August in an aircast boot and on crutches. It was agonizing and the feeling of defeat was overwhelming. “Of course”, I thought, “this would happen to me.”  I sometimes wonder if I would have gotten to know my running coach if it hadn’t been for that injury.  I’d like to think so, but probably not. 

My great running coach said that if I came to his gym once a week and worked hard, I would be able to accomplish my goal of running the Disney Marathon.  And so, I drove to Maryland and worked with him once a week for four and a half months and he helped me get better. I am stronger now than I was before my injury. In my opinion, there is no personal trainer better than him. Two months into my recovery, I ran The Amica Newport Half Marathon, coming out of it with a PR. Two months after that, I crossed the finish line at the 2012 Disney Full Marathon in 6 hours, 1 minute. It was and still is the greatest thing that has ever happened to my life.

A lot has happened since that day. I have lost 30 lbs, run seven more half marathons, and in March of this year, I ran my fourth full marathon (Shamrock) in 4 hours, 29 minutes. There have been dozens and dozens of other races, all distances, all types of weather.  I am a Girls on Track Coach and a sponsored athlete with GU and the Timex Factory Team.   The road has been long and arduous but I have loved it so much.  I would change nothing.

For the record, the first photograph here is of me running my first race. That's me on the right side, being trailed by a police car at the Newport Pie Run in 2010.  So, if you're reading this and think you can't run a race, you can. Amazing things might happen if you keep going after that.