The beginning of my running life....

My running group from home has started our own blog, "The Callipygians"!  As part of our introductory posts, we are each writing about how we started running.  So here is mine.

First off, I was FAT!  I weighed 196, and was determined not to hit the 200 mark.  And I was ANGRY!  I had a friend that lost a child in a tragedy, and I was losing faith in humanity with how she was being treated.  That accident showed me what a cruel and judging world we live in.   I needed an outlet for all the emotions swirling in my head.  I was going to Weight Watchers and walking for my activity points, but on a particularly bad day that just wasn't enough.........so I ran until I couldn't anymore.  Then I walked until I could, I ran until tears were streaming down my sweaty, salty face.  Some days I ran and it didn't feel like work.  Some days I felt like a turtle stampeding through peanut butter :)  But I kept running, and the weight started to come off.


My first race was a 10K a month after I began running, Laura's Legacy.  It is held in Garden City to honor a mother-runner who lost her fight to brain cancer leaving behind two young boys and a husband.  I probably should have started with a shorter distance, but go BIG or go home right?  I ran/walked that very emotional race, every mile with my heart aching for my friends that were grieving.  At the finish line, Laura's two little boys were handing out water bottles.  That was hard......but they were actively honoring their mommy in her memorial race.  I cried the whole way home.

Needless to say, by this point, I was hooked on running.  I began searching for more races.  Our area has several races and I began to grow as a runner.  One thing that amazes me about the running community is that whether you are first or last, everyone cheers for you the same. The encouragement I got from other runners motivated me to better myself.

So, I decided I wanted to tackle a half-marathon.  Again, go BIG or go home.....so I signed up for Disney World!  I ran the Inaugural Disney Princess Half-Marathon.

I have since ran three more half-marathons, one more at Disney World, and most recently Vegas!

We moved to New Mexico this spring, and I am slowly finding my running groove here.  There are beautiful foothills and rivers to run on!

In closing, I just want to encourage everyone.  It doesn't matter if you are slow or fast, what matters is that you are out there.

This post was part of the 'Get to Know Us' series on The Callipygians blog.  Follow us here.”