In the beginning ...

At the behest of a few friends and family, I have created a blog to chronicle my running journey. Welcome to my first entry!

All journeys have a beginning, and mine is not so different from many others who put on a pair of running shoes and soon discover a run's cathartic qualities.

My journey began with a desire to lose some residual weight from my last pregnancy. I was a size 16 (and in some clothes, a size 18), the heaviest I had ever been in my relatively athletic life. I was depressed, angry, on medication for high blood pressure and anxiety, not myself. I needed to take control of my life again, and when I was gifted a treadmill (thank you, Aunt Joanne!), it seemed like a sign.

I remember my first run very clearly. The year 2010 had just started. Despite not having done much physically for about three years, I expected my once-athletic body to be able to churn out at least a mile with no problem. I stepped onto the treadmill with high hopes and was quickly brought back to reality when, after the first tenth of a mile, I felt like I could barely breathe. My legs protested, my back and knees ached. I was able to squeeze out a quarter of a mile before I stopped. I was supposed to feel better, wasn't I? Instead, I felt like a failure.

And then that stubborn side of me (the same side that has, frankly, gotten me into a bit of trouble from time to time) stepped in. Was I going to let a treadmill get the best of me? Was I just going to sit back and give up? Oh, heck no! I decided to work on my distance and add a little bit at a time. I knew at that point that this journey wasn't going to be a sprint but rather an endurance race: slow and steady would get me to the finish line.

Within a couple of months, I was able to run five miles. The weight started to come off,  slowly. By this time, I was down to around a size 12 and beginning to feel more confident and knew that I could do more. So I worked myself up in the mileage again. I decided to run five days a week, two run sessions each day. Before long, I was logging five miles in the morning before work and then five miles in the evening after work. The weight seemed to melt right off me, and in a few more months, I had lost 40 pounds and a few more sizes.

Despite my weight loss success, running was quickly becoming a chore, something I had to do, not something I necessarily wanted to do. And just like acquiring a treadmill when I needed it most, I gained my first running friend, Pam, at this crucial moment. She talked me into getting off the treadmill and running outdoors, and suddenly something I had begun to dread became interesting and new and … well … fun. She talked me into signing up for my first ever race, the Niagara Falls International Half Marathon, which I ran with her in October 2010. It was the most amazing experience, and I can still clearly remember the surge of happiness and feeling of accomplishment that rushed through me as we crossed the finish line. I cried when my mother gave me a hug and told me how proud she was of me, and the pride I felt in myself was something I had been sorely missing for some time.

I knew that I had to experience that rush again, and so that evening, I signed up for my first big race, the Buffalo Marathon, to occur in May 2011. Not long after that I signed up for the October 2011 Chicago Marathon. Here I was, signed up for two marathons before I even knew if I was capable of running one! And to top off my craziness, I made a hefty 2011 New Year's resolution: to run a marathon in every state.

This is how my journey began. I have since run 15 marathons in 13 different states:

NY - Buffalo Marathon May 2011 - 5:19:36
IL - Chicago Marathon October 2011 - 5:56:36
SC - Myrtle Beach Marathon February 2012 - 5:35:29
OH - Cleveland Marathon May 2012 - 6:15:01
VA - Marine Corps Marathon October 2012 - 5:12:40
FL - 26.2 with Donna February 2013 - 4:58:44
KY - Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon April 2013 - 4:43:18
VT - Mad Marathon July 2013 - 5:29:08
PA - Erie Marathon September 2013 - 4:31:00
WV - Marshall Marathon November 2013 - 5:08:36
AL - Mercedes Marathon February 2014 - 5:19:48
MI - Kalamazoo Marathon May 2014 - 4:51:41
MT - Missoula Marathon July 2014 - 5:05:07

The other two marathons I've completed were virtual marathons for charitable organizations:
Irish Upon a Star Virtual Marathon March 2014 (for the Make a Wish foundation) - 5:16:36
Mother's Day Virtual Marathon May 2014 (for the Special Olympics) - 5:31:59

I've also completed countless 5ks and a handful of half marathons in between marathon races. I have yet to run an official 10k, but it's on my bucket list.

I am addicted to running. If you follow me on FB, you'll notice that 90% of what I post deals with running, and for that, I'm not sorry at all. It has changed my life in so many wonderful ways. If you ask me about my journey, expect a long answer because I really like to talk about it. It makes me feel alive. Why wouldn't I want to spread that happiness?!

Thanks for reading, friends. :)