In middle school I was pretty overweight and ugly. Yup, I admit that I was unattractive and awkward. At the beginning of eight grade, my friends were trying out for the varsity soccer team and I figured I would try it out too. So I went out for tryouts, and lo and behold, I made the freaking team. It was brutal. When you're an overweight kid in Florida, you sweat profusely even when standing still. Even though the season was hard, I made it to the end and loved it. For the following season, I figured I needed to get my cardio in shape for soccer so I joined the Cross Country team as a freshman. I think that's when my love for running started. I loved being outdoors, and I loved taking that time just to think.
After that soccer season was over my freshmen year, I joined Track & Field. That year, I had the best coach: Mr. Meyers. He saw something in me that I don't think I saw yet, and he pushed me during every practice. I remember there was one practice when he took me to the side and all he had me do is run .25 mile under 1:30. I think I did 15 sets and even though it sucked, I loved it. That year I lost all of my unwanted weight and started competing in the racing world. I wasn't the best by any means, but I was pretty decent. My events throughout all of my track years was the 4X800 meters, the open 800 meters, and the 2 miler. I tried meddling in pole vault, but let's just say that wasn't my best event (hell - I couldn't make it the first level lol).
As the years went by, I got better. I loved running and wouldn't trade it for the world. It became a part of who I was and even on my worst days, I laid it all on the track and felt much better. My senior year started off bright, and I won the first Cross Country meet of the year. I came in at 24:00 for the 5K and beat everyone who competed by over a minute. I was so motivated and knew I would be shredding that time in the next meet. Our next meet came and I sank. My calves were on fire and I knew it wasn't normal. I went to the doctor and they said I was done for the season - I had tendonitis in my heel/lower calf. I was confined to cycling and my life was over (it was high school and I was dramatic -what can I say). I eventually was back to running during the track season, but was only able to run during major meets. Needless to say, my dreams of running at college were crushed (not that I was going to go to a major school for running, but maybe a small college).
It's funny how passionate I became about running. It started as a way to lose weight, and ended up being something I couldn't live without. It made me a different person, and made me feel strong - like I could do anything. I never want to lose that feeling.
I guess one of the next steps in my journey is to become a parent (I'm not sure when that will happen so I can't tell you the time frame). I do know however, that once I become a parent, I want to keep it up. I think some women lose their identity and focus only on the baby. They fail to realize that to be the best mother you can be, you need to focus on yourself. It reminds me of the pre-brief they give you before you take off on an airplane. They always say to put your air mask first before you help anyone else, because if you don't you'll fail to help anyone else. How can your children learn to be strong, when they don't see your most conquering moments?
Ok - I'll get off my soapbox, but before I do, I encourage everyone to do something positive and active in their lives. For me, it's been running. It'll be running until the moment I die.
Yup - that's me in high school :)
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