Growing up I hated running. The "Mile Day" during PE was my worst enemy and I dreaded every moment. Luckily, being on a softball team since the age of 10, I didn't have to run too many long distances. Despite my hatred I was a quick runner (my nickname was "Missile") but when it came to running farther than 60 feet, forget it!
A little over a year ago I decided I needed to make a change in my life. I felt out of shape, tired, and had sore muscles just from lifting or carrying my one year old daughter Kensley. I knew I needed to find the 'athlete' in me again. Sports always gave me peace not to mention an incredible competitive edge. So my new journey began.
It wasn't an easy road. For those of you that have had a child you can probably agree that getting back into the 'workout mode' isn't a piece of cake like movie starts make it out to be. But one day I slipped my shoes on and headed out the door for a run (and by run I mean a slow jog at that point) and I found it relaxing and stimulating at the same time. Don't get me wrong it was tough: my heart was beating out of my chest and I felt like I literally couldn't breathe but I still felt a sense of my old self coming through. The days following my first run included aches and pains I hadn't felt in a really long time. I thought to myself, "what am I thinking, I'm 29 years old, there's no way I can be the 'Athlete' I once was!" However, the true competitive spirit in me shined through and I made it a goal to continue on my running quest.
I quickly acquired shin splints, which was very painful but I continued to run. I researched the injury, changed my running style and my shoes and shortly thereafter the shin splints was gone but only to be replaced with a new one--excruciating lateral knee pain in both knees. Being a new runner I thought it was all part of the process: trying to figure out my perfect stride, gait, etc. So I ran through the pain for months. Looking back I'm not sure how I managed to deal with it for so long. Finally it got to the point where I felt as if I could literally run a full marathon but my physical pain was holding me back.
I decided to go to a running specialist to see if they could help me. They put me on a treadmill, video taped my feet landing and came up with what seemed like a simple solution. Turns out I was wearing the wrong type of running shoe with too much inner arch support which was causing my knees to push outwards, thus leading to double lateral knee pain. I tried on dozens of other shoes and hesitantly purchased a new pair, hoping that they would solve my problem. I took them out for a test drive the week following and it was like a miracle, the pain was gone! "There was no stopping me now" I thought to myself.
Unfortunately I had two additional injuries following which hindered my running. One, a hamstring strain from doing new weight lifting exercises from my Nike Trainer app; and two, foot arch pain in both feet. I then began the process for solving my new injuries.
I forgot to mention at that point I was only one month away from running in my first race, the Reno Tahoe Odyssey, in which I was asked to join a team of girls shortly after I began my new journey of running. I accepted the offer and kept it one of my motivations. So needless to say I was worried that I was going to fail my team.
Despite my long road of becoming a runner, injuries and all, I made it to the Odyssey and more importantly made it to the finish line. It was an incredible experience! Being a part of a team again brought back fond memories of growing up playing softball. The training, the hard work, the motivation and encouragement from each other, the sweat, the pain, the long days of competition, the laughs and the victories: these are some of the joys of being a part of a group camaraderie. My teammates and I all had the same goals in mind and we worked together to accomplish them. Of course we each had our own personal goals to reach as independent runners on each leg of the race. My goals included to never walk no matter how tired I was, to beat my fastest record pace, to get 10 road kills (road kill = passing another runner), and to sleep a little when we had our break. I accomplished all except for the sleep, I had too much adrenaline and excitement to fall asleep during our two hour break but I did lay there and relax.
So here I am today posting my personal journey as it is one that I am both proud of and one that I look forward to sharing with Kensley when she is old enough to understand. I hope to motivate her one day so that she too can accomplish anything she puts her mind to.
Thanks for reading!
Sarah
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