A bit about me: I'm a former seriously unathletic, overweight and uncoordinated person, turned running obsessed wanna be triathlete. This first one is a bit of my life story, triathlon training, thoughts and many many questions will be in posts to follow.
I was overweight working an office job, when I finally saw some unsightly strech marks and decided something had to change! I had always been competitive in nature...I just wasnt very good at competing... I tried sports in school, badminton, wrestling, but never won. I had drive and determination, just no skill or coordination. So I joined the marching band... Anyways, my clothing size was increasing, but it was the dreaded stretch marks where I had enough. I went to the gym near my office that day, and guess what, they had a competition to get into shape! 1st prize was a trip to Vegas, so my competitive nature took over. 2 months I lost 30lbs through cleaning up my diet and weight training with a personal trainer (no starvation diets here, I like food too much). This put me in a healthy weight range, unfortunately I got second overall in the province...(oh yea I'm Canadian, Alberta grown, eh!). My weight was up and down for a few years, periods of lots of beer and pool, and then back to the gym.
Things changed from being in ok shape to great shape when I moved to Texas (work in oilfield services...suprise). Alberta is the Texas of Canada so it wasn't a huge culture shock, with the benefit of the weather! I had some time before my work authorization came through, so I got started with P90X, followed by Insanity. I found if I kept myself interested I would stay in shape instead of the yo-yo working out and weight I had before. So I was hungry for a new challenge. Now for the record, I HATED running, I avoided it at all costs, my husband used to run in the mornings and I thought he was insane. However I was looking for a new challenge, and I must have seen an ad for a marathon or something, but I decided I was going to do a half marathon.
Seems like a great idea right? I tend to be a little all over the place, and need to be kept entertained. Sitting quietly is a nightmare for me. I will read a book, while listening to music, while cooking dinner and stretching. So the idea of running around in circles for hours had zero appeal for me, not to mention I could not run a mile without stopping to save my life!
Well I figured I better work on that and joined a running club. I have to say its doubtful I would be here if it werent for that amazing group of people. The first time I ran 3 miles (or 1 mile) without stopping was chatting with people on the club run. Their enthusiasm got me excited, well that and the fact that it turns out there are RACES! Queue competitive juices. I ran my first 5k a few weeks later, ended up winning 1st female overall and I was hooked. I ended up running a half marathon 2.5 months later and got 3rd female overall and decided marathon here I come!
(First 5K right before finish..I must have had more to give I'm still smiling)
Before and Afters...before kept me motivated!
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