.My "Why"

If you would have asked me in junior high or high school what kind of sports I liked, I can guarantee you that long distance running was the farthest from my mind. My first love was artistic gymnastics, which I did faithfully until I was 20 years old and involved in a car accident. I had to stop cold turkey for 6 months, and my body couldn't really handle competing at a high level after that. I dabbled in adult classes and occasionally go to drop-in, but sadly it's probably been a few years now since I did a back-handspring.

I participated in track and field through school, but mostly in long jump and shot put, which was fairly shocking for most considering my scrawny frame at the time, but I had built up arm muscles from gymnastics. I even qualified for the city finals a couple of times to represent my school! I also remember in gym class being told we had to run the 1500M, and having to walk for most of it and being one of the slowest in the class. It wasn't until a year after I met my now husband Brian that I even considered doing anything long distance.

Brian had mentioned to me in our first year of dating that his new year's resolution was to run a half marathon or complete a triathlon. I thought it might be fun to do that together, but wasn't sure I'd actually be able to do it. I had just joined an outdoor bootcamp which I loved, but when it came to anything running I couldn't even run a full mile without being out of breath. My body had changed a lot since I quit gymnastics and although I still had the small frame, I wasn't nearly as muscular or had the cardio fitness level I used to have. I also have a mixture of normal asthma and exercise-induced asthma, which I had never let stop me in the past, but worried that it may in this case.

So I thought to myself - I want to help him complete his goal AND I want to take part in this challenge as well. As I was taking part in bootcamp, I overheard one of the participants talking about a half marathon in Vegas that they were attending. I went home and looked it up - and said to Brian "Hey - how would you like to complete your new year's resolution in Vegas?" I had excellent travel benefits with my job at the airport at that point, so we booked our trip and started to train. We did some running together, and I continued in bootcamp. When it got too cold to run outside, I ran laps at the Kinsmen Sports Center. I think the most I ran before the big race was about 8 miles...and that was tough, so my goal was honestly just to cross the finish line before the 4 hour mark when they started removing racers from the course.

To this day and 4 half marathons later, the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon is still one of the coolest races I've ever run. We ran the inaugural race in 2009 which involved closing down the famous Las Vegas strip and running all the way up and down it (and then some) in the early hours of the morning. All the big hotel signs were lit up with encouragement for all the runners, and showed pump up tweets from friends and family. We ran the race together, and unfortunately Brian re-injured his knee while running so he ended up power walking after about six miles. Because of this, we ended up being the same speed and ended up crossing the finish line at the exact same moment holding hands. After that, something clicked. I was so happy I almost cried at the finish line, and even more thrilled that we were able to do it together. My goal was to finish the race in under 4 hours, and we finished in 2:58:16. I was hooked.

Fast forward to 2014 and I've fully caught the running bug. I've completed half marathons in Edmonton (AB), Canmore (AB), Disneyland and Disneyworld. I've completed some 10K's and 5K's along the way too. This summer I'll be running Color Me Rad (5K), Spartan Race (5K + obstacles), the Underwear Affair (10K to raise money for cancers below the waist), Run for Your Dad (15K to raise money for the Heart & Stroke Foundation), and the Edmonton half (13.1M). Currently I'm working hard on my 5K time to get it under 30 minutes, doing bootcamp 1-2 times a week at lunch, and fitting in some stairs and hills workouts with November Project Canada (which I will definitely go into more later in other posts). When I'm not running, I want to run! My personal best in a half marathon is 2:43 and I'm looking to improve that to 2:15 before I start training for a full marathon. My running goals include qualifying and running the Boston Marathon and New York Marathon one day!

Whenever I do a Stella & Dot trunk show, I start off by telling the ladies my "Why". This is something I've learned while working with Stella & Dot; and it's essentially the reason why you've decided to go on your journey! My "Why" for running is not complex; I love doing it, it keeps me in good cardio shape, and it provides that sense of accomplishment that I was missing in my life. One thing I really miss about gymnastics was competing - and although I don't race to win against other competitors, having people cheer you on and wait for you at the finish line is incredibly rewarding for me. I decided to start writing this blog to keep myself accountable with my running goals, and to share the random ups and downs I go through. Thanks for reading!

Keep calm & run on. Right? :) Now, to get over this bad cold so I can get back on track...

xo
-Dianne