Now, I have some of the lyrics stuck in my head and they’ve become a bit of a training mantra for me as I think of running my first race. While this was a song for 2010 World Cup Soccer, the words really speak to me.

This is our motto
Your time to shine
Don’t wait in line
Y vamos por todo

People are raising
Their expectations
Go on and feel it
This is your moment
No hesitations

Today’s your day
I feel it
You paved the way
Believe it

I decided to buy the song from iTunes and add it to my playlist. It’s very motivational and the words will be spurring me forward on race day. It reminds me that expectations have been raised now that I have people sponsoring me to run this race in support of the JDRF and that my dedication and training will definitely bring me to the finish line, hopefully, with a great big smile on my face.

I do believe it.

B(e) positive!

I love it. I’m addicted to it. I have to force myself to take rest days. I missed it terribly when I couldn’t do it. I jumped up and down like I was 8 and it was Christmas morning when I got the all-clear to run again.

I’m also excited about the big race. Okay, so 5K isn’t all that big. But for me, the girl who could barely walk to the mailbox 13 years ago, it is monumental. I’ve been through so much to get to this point and that first race is a mere 71 days away.

Speaking of the race… I chose the Ford Race to End Diabetes in Oakville as my first race because I know what it is like to battle diabetes. I’m fortunate that I am not a Type 1 (aka juvenile) diabetic and that I could use exercise in place of insulin. It is only fitting that I do something to help diabetics who don’t have the option I do.

I’d love it if you could help too. I registered the race through the Running Room’s website. Perhaps you’d like sponsor me by making a donation, or maybe you’d like to sign up for the race and meet me at the finish line on April 28.

I never thought I’d say this… but running is fun!

As you, my dear reader know, I feel very strongly about people taking the reins with their health and doing something to improve it. If you are overweight, sedentary, smoking and eating things that you really shouldn’t, I urge you to start making changes now… the health of your heart is far too important to put off.  Love yourself enough to do something good for health today. Your heart will love you for it. Had I not been so pro-active with my own health, I’d be telling you a much different story right now (that is if I was alive to tell it).

Back in the middle of December I decided to ask my family doctor about my resting heart rate which is usually around 50 beats per minute. I realized that this can be quite normal in athletes but I had only been running for a month and not at the intensity or duration of a seasoned athlete. At the appointment my doctor noticed that my blood pressure was high too. That morning I had received word that I was to have laser surgery in both eyes to deal with macular edema. I was pretty stressed out about the whole thing. So with the low heart rate, high blood pressure under stress, and a family history of heart problems, my doctor agreed that maybe I should go for an ECG.

The results were finally revealed to me a month later because my family doctor dropped the ball. The evening before my eye procedure, which I was totally freaked out about, Dr. R. called me with news that my ECG was showing “borderline inferior Q waves” and that she believed that I had a past myocardial infarction which in layperson’s terms is a heart attack. What?!

She referred me to a cardiologist, Dr. J., and said that I would need an echocardiogram as soon as possible. I was to stop running and all other heart rate raising activity immediately and until further notice. She put me on a very low dose of Coversyl, an ACE inhibitor for blood pressure control.

The eye procedure went well but now I was very stressed out about this possible heart issue. I was devastated to think that I may have had a heart attack and not even known it. Silent heart attacks can happen in people with diabetes.  I was very disappointed that I was told I couldn’t run and that I had worked so hard for naught.  I was wallowing—it happens.

So, I went to Dr. J’s for the ECG and the echocardiogram the following week. The ECG came back normal and it was confirmed that I have never had a heart attack but the echocardiogram showed a tiny bit of thickening of the heart wall on the left side. This is known as LVH or Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (enlargement of the left side of the heart). Dr. J. indicated that he felt this was reversible and that I was probably already reversing a more serious case of it but without a previous echo to compare it with, he could not be 100% certain. You see, the heart is like any other muscle and when you work it hard it becomes thick. The thing is, you don’t want to do that with your heart. Being morbidly obese for so long meant that my heart had to work really hard to support my large body.  High blood pressure makes your heart work harder too. In fact, obesity and high blood pressure are two of the major causes of this condition. Like any muscle you can reverse this problem by not working it out so much.

Then he asked about my medical history as well as my family history of heart disease. He smiled when I told him that I had lost an entire person already and that I try to eat well and be active. I mentioned that I am training for my first 5K race. Then came the family history part. Dr. J. started writing. I told him that my Grandfather was diabetic and may have died of heart failure. I told him that my Dad had his first heart attack at my age as well as a triple-bypass about age 53 and that he died when he was 67. The doctor put his pen down. I said, “I’m not done yet” and I told him about the rest of our family along with how little certain people in my family care for their health by doing detrimental things like smoking, excessive drinking, making poor food choices, being sedentary, and the like.

The man looked quite worried and I asked him what was wrong. He replied, “Laurie, you have one of the worst family histories of premature coronary artery disease that I have ever seen. With that and the fact that you are diabetic, I’d like you to refrain from running until we can do an exercise stress test on the treadmill with a nuclear isotope called Cardiolite.” I started to cry. Then Dr. J. promised to have the testing done and results to me by the end of the next week. I asked a little more about the test and he said that essentially they want to make sure that I don’t have any issues with blood flow to the heart when under the strain of exercise. He’d be looking for blockages and clots.

To say I was scared would be an understatement. I read up on the procedure and learned everything I could about LVH. I finally decided that there wasn’t anything more that I could do for my health beyond what I am already doing. I would deal with whatever comes out of this last test with the same determination and care that I take with being a diabetic.

I donned my ever-so-cute running clothes and headed to the cardiology lab this past Thursday morning. I was in a waiting room with a group of heart patients in various states of poor health and I was excited about being able to run, even if medically supervised. Everyone else looked like they were dreading the treadmill test. I figured it wouldn’t do me any good to be stressed about it, so I put on my best smile and slipped my feet into my running shoes. To make a long story short, I maxed out the test duration which in this lab is 12 minutes. I was a little disappointed—I didn’t even break a good sweat. My lab tech was a former ultra-marathon runner so he totally understood my exuberance. And I went home to wait.

Normally these test results take 10 to 14 business days but Jen called from Dr. J.’s office that afternoon to tell me they’d have results in the morning and that as a precaution with my family history, Dr. J. would like me to start taking the lowest dose of a statin used for cholesterol control. He figured that with the way I am eating and the amount of exercise, I shouldn’t have an issue but he has concerns about familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) which is a genetic defect where there is a lack of LDL receptors to remove cholesterol from the blood (um… thanks Dad). I’ve also inherited teeny-tiny blood vessels. When I asked about the medication he basically said that I could have a perfect diet, be active every day, and be at the ideal weight and still end up with cholesterol issues. With my tiny vascular system this medication is even more crucial because a little arterial plaque for me would be considerably more dangerous than it would be for someone with larger vessels.

I barely slept Thursday night, and by Friday morning I was quite anxious. I wanted to run again  and the treadmill test the day before made me realize just how much I missed it. 11:00 am came and went so I called Jen at Dr. J.’s office and left a message. Forty minutes later the phone rang. It was the doctor and he had my results. I was dead silent, bracing myself to hear the bad news. But the news was better than I could have hoped for.

My blood flow is good. He mentioned that I should continue to try and lose the rest of the weight which he knows I am working hard at.  I was told I have the all-clear to run even a half-marathon if I like. “Enjoy and remember to stay conversational when you run”, the doctor said. He wants to see me in six months just to follow-up on the medications and check on the LVH to ensure that this is indeed the reversal in progress that he thinks it is. He told me to keep up the good work and mentioned that if I hadn’t been so tenacious with my lifestyle changes we’d be dealing with a much different outcome.

So… there I have it… I can run to my heart’s content. Literally, because exercise is good for the heart. I have to say that knowing I can resume my training was a very happy moment.

How I wish you were here today. I was eight when you were ripped out of my life so tragically. That was almost 35 years ago but there is not a day goes by that I don’t think of you.

Eight years is such a short time but you had a big impact on my life. My memory of those camping trips that Cathy and you used to take us on were some of the best I had in childhood. When I met my husband, Bryan, he rekindled that passion for the outdoors—that love of nature that you instilled in me when I was so little.

Those memories saved my life. You see, I was in a real bad way after you died. I gained weight and comforted myself with food. Just over a decade ago, when I saw my future in our other siblings, I took a hard stance with my health and turned things around. I went backpacking and not only did it put me on a much better path from a health perspective, it transformed my self-esteem and my career. I never thought being active would be so much fun.

When I am on the trail or going for a run or getting ready to cook something over a campfire, I feel you there alongside me, in spirit. You taught me so much about the stars and I am trying to teach that to my son. I still love the Perseids. I think of the talks we shared about your beliefs while gazing at the skies. My heart warms when I think of your Buddhist way of looking at the world.  Oh and I finally read some of the meditations of the Dalai Lhama. I see why his words spoke to you so much. I read Khalil Gibran’s writings too—inspirational.

How you loved our planet and how conscious you were about what damage we were causing. You sure used to lecture Mom and Dad about cutting a tree from our forest each year to decorate for Christmas. I remember you saying how long they took to grow. You’d be happy to know that we use a tree farm because of the sustainable crop practices. You would be totally ticked off about how much worse our planet is now and how wasteful people have become. When I see someone using a disposable Bic lighter, I am transported back in time to a night by the campfire and I can hear you saying how bad they are for our planet—how they are indestructible and that you figured aliens coming to our planet a million years later, would be thinking they’ve found some great mineral when it is merely our discarded trash.

I think of some of the funnier moments… like when you polished the hardwood floors to a mirror-like finish or when you played Woodstock for Aunt Gladys after Mom told you not to. And your jokes were awful, especially the one about the pink and purple polka-dotted ping pong paddle. Really awful.

The campsite you made in the backyard and the bridge over the creek were awesome! So was the pond and the white stone path around it. Too bad you never got to finish the cabin in the woods that you started. I used to play on the platform with the neighborhood kids. After you died, Dad and Mom put the cab you built for the truck back there and I would hide in it. One day I was coming out of the little shelter and startled a snowy owl in the tree above. What a beautiful creature.

I’m passing on what you’ve taught me, to my children. You’d adore them. Tobias has an adventurous spirit. I could totally see him backpacking across our country like you did. Kaia has my stubbornness and loves camping. She’s already been on her first wilderness trip. You’d like Bryan too. He still can’t figure out what you loved so much about Winnipeg. We talk about your love of the city every time work leads him there.

When Tobias runs he has the same stance that you did. It makes me smile and think of your white leather North Star runners. They had blue stripes and were so worn and stinky.  When they were falling apart you said that they were “just getting comfortable”.

Remember the big daisy you painted on my playroom wall? I adored that. I painted a mural on Tobias’ wall when he first came to us. Thanks for the inspiration. It was amazing to see how much that meant to my little guy.

I’m living my life to the fullest because you couldn’t.  I’m running my first race at the end of April. I sure wish you were going to be there to cheer me on to the finish line.

I miss you, my brother and my friend.  Happy Birthday.

With all my love,

Your baby sister.

ready for the office

One of my biggest rewards in life is being a Mom to Tobias and Kaia. Tobias is growing up fast and will soon be eleven. Kaia is a rambunctious and precocious toddler. It makes my life very busy but I would not trade this for the world.

Kaia mimics everyone the family. She tries to imitate Tobias when he dances. She grabs the cooler bag and puts her Daddy’s shoes on as if she’s ready for a day at the office. Kaia even tries to eat like she’s a dog. My darling toddler walks around the house with a purse slung over her arm and she puts the craziest things in it. Yesterday I could not find the dog’s collar. It was in her purse along with a few other missing items. She had slipped it over his neck and claimed it as her own.

Right now she copies me more than the others, probably because we spend the most time together. She does some of my yoga poses and things like that but the funniest was on Sunday. I will never forget the moment. After I finished my running workout I did some stretching as usual. One of the stretches for the back of my leg requires that my palms be on the wall for stability. Little Miss Trouble positioned herself between the wall and me, then copied my stretch perfectly. As I went onto the next set of stretches she copied each one. It was simply adorable.

It also illustrated something of importance to me—a reminder that children model what they see. It is my hope for both Tobias and Kaia that they see the intensity with which I embrace a healthy lifestyle and have more enriched lives because of it.

I started with the Couch to 5k Treadmill Version which I have talked about on the blog a few times already. At the end of week 5 of this program there was sudden leap from 8-minute running intervals to a full 20-minute run. I know my body and planned plenty of time to train for my April race so I decided a change was in order. I’ve mentioned the switch to a 5 K Conditioning Program  in a previous installment of the dreadmill diaries and I am currently on Week 7.

I decided that I would search with Google to see if I could find a copy of the 5 K Conditioning Program online so that I could share it with my friend. I found it on The Star newpaper website in a Resolution article entitled Learn to Run a 5 K Race. I have a few months to train still so I will be following this until the end of week 9 and then moving onto a more advanced bit of training.

The book recommends training on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday each week. I do one extra run.

Here is how the conditioning program is broken down…

Week 1
Walk 1 minute, then run 5 minutes. Repeat four times, plus walk 1 minute.
Total session time = 25 minutes.

Week 2
Walk 1 minute, then run 7 minutes. Repeat three times, plus walk 1 minute.
Total session time = 25 minutes.

Week 3
Walk 1 minute, then run 10 minutes. Repeat two times, plus walk 1 minute.
Total session time = 23 minutes.

Week 4
Walk 1 minute, then run 10 minutes. Repeat two times, plus walk 1 minute.
Total session time = 23 minutes.

Week 5
Walk 1 minute, then run 10 minutes. Repeat two times, plus walk 1 minute, run 2 minutes, then walk 1 minute.
Total session time = 26 minutes.

Week 6
Walk 1 minute, then run 10 minutes. Repeat two times, plus walk 1 minute, run 4 minutes, then walk 1 minute.
Total session time = 28 minutes.

Week 7
Walk 1 minute, then run 10 minutes. Repeat two times, plus walk 1 minute, run 5 minutes, then walk 1 minute.
Total session time = 29 minutes.

Week 8
Walk 1 minute, then run 10 minutes. Repeat two times, plus walk 1 minute, run 6 minutes, plus walk 1 minute.
Total session time = 30 minutes.

Week 9
Walk 1 minute, then run 10 minutes. Repeat two times, plus walk 1 minute, run 8 minutes, then walk 1 minute.
Total session time = 32 minutes.

Week 10*
Workout 1: walk 1 minute, then run 10 minutes. Repeat two times, plus walk 1 minute.
Total session time = 23 minutes.
Workout 2 and 3: Walk 1 minute, then run 10 minutes. Repeat three times, plus walk 1 minute.
Total session time = 34 minutes.

Week 11
Race day: Walk 1 minute, then run 10 minutes. Repeat until you cross the finish line.

Pace Schedule: Don’t concern yourself about pace or distance as the goal is to increase the interval of time running/walking. Week 1 will incorporate 1 min walk/5 min run. Week 2 will increase 1 min walk/7 min run. All other weeks will progress to the formula of 1 minute walk/10 minute run.

I hope that seeing it broken down like this encourages some of you to strive for the goal of a 5K charity race. It’s a fabulous way to get fit and give back at the same time. It just takes the courage to start…

Let me explain it a bit better. I’m not looking to be constantly patted on the back or to have friends that are total “yes” people who agree with me all the time. I appreciate people who can be honest when I ask an opinion or who can step up and tell me they don’t agree with what I’ve said. I don’t want my friends to constantly exude happiness either because the reality is that we all have our down times.

I decided, some time ago, to align myself with peers who, when those chips are down, can move forward and try to make their lives more positive by dealing with things head on. These people don’t complain about things without taking some sort of action to change what they aren’t happy with. And… what I have distanced myself from are those people who are constantly on the “oh woes me” trips. The repeated “my life sucks” or “I wish I had what so-and-so has” or “my life is so hard”. I found that, after awhile, I started to feel the same way. Then I decided that I needed to change my way of thinking if I was every going to have the life I wanted instead of giving the energy to negativity or envy. Part of that was putting some massive space between me and the overly-negative influences in my life.

Sure, there are some aspects of life that are unchangeable. Take being diabetic for example. I had to face the fact that I am stuck with this disease and it is partially of my own doing. I will always be diabetic. I could have whine and feel sorry for myself but instead I choose to do everything I can to live with this in the healthiest way I can; to do everything that is in my power to prolong my life and be happy instead of dwelling on what I cannot change. Sure, I talk about being diabetic a lot but I do so with the intent to inspire and support others who may be on a similar journey.

I used to feel sorry for myself because I was morbidly obese. I even went to the doctor looking for a quick-fix and I whined when she wouldn’t give me one. I slipped into a bit of a depression and would lay in bed half the day. Then something clicked, I shook myself off and looked at where complaining was getting me. Absolutely nowhere. I thought about how long it took me to become obese and how it was a succession of  little things that added up to put me there. I decided that the only way to deal with it was to implement small changes that would add up to significant weight loss. I did and it was hard work that has been well worth it. Having supportive and encouraging people in my life was instrumental in this success.

I’m not perfect, not even close and I have my times of self-doubt. A recent conversation illustrates this. I was progressing to a more difficult part of the Couch to 5k Treadmill workouts. I called Samantha (she’s my best friend) and told her that I didn’t think I could do it. She reminded me that running is as much a mental activity as a physical one and that I had to stop letting my mind hold me back. Wise words that when put into action, worked brilliantly. The friends I have now distanced myself from would have encouraged me to give up and with the poor self-esteem I had back then, I would have.

It has taken me a long time to get where I am as far as having a circle of strong-minded, motivated people that I can truly call inspiring. It makes me a better person to have them in my life.

So why does the scale lie? Well there are numerous reasons but almost all of the involve water.

Water retention is a big factor and how much water we retain is directly influenced by sodium intake, water consumption, and water loss. Considering that a litre of water weighs about a kilogram that can make for great variances on the scale. Women will also have times when they hold onto more water such as just before menstruation.

Glycogen stores are another factor that can give a false reading. You see muscle glycogen is stored with water.

If you weigh yourself after a meal it will be just like adding a hand-weight to the scale. Don’t worry the weight of the food you consumed won’t turn into the same weight on the scale once it is digested. You’d have to consume 3500 calories and not burn any of it off for that to happen. Many foods, as I have learned through writing wilderness cookbooks that rely partly on food dehydration, can be 80 to 90% water.

Fat is actually light for its size and lean muscle is heavy for its size. If you are on a workout program that is building muscle, especially something like running, your losses on the scale may not match what you see in the mirror or with the tape measure. The leg muscles are the largest in our body and when we work them hard, that burns more calories and fat.

So, don’t be alarmed if you see some ups and downs on the scale. If you can, hide that bathroom scale away, so that you aren’t obsessing over it like I have been.

My promise…

I     w i l l     r e s i s t      t h e      u r g e      t o
s t e p      o n        t h e      s c a l e !

I officially started my Couch to 5k Treadmill sessions on November 21, 2011 after taking a bit of time to get used to exercising on the treadmill. When I started I would walk for 1.5 minutes and run for 1. I remember it being a little tough and I wasn’t sure that I could do it. Fast forward and I was up to 8-minute and 10-minute running sessions and the walks in-between were 3-minutes. I also found that the interval spacing was allowing me cool down too much between running intervals—there didn’t appear to be a happy medium. Then it would jump to a 20-minute run at the end of the week. I didn’t like the way it transitioned and felt I needed more conditioning before going that long. This wasn’t a mental thing; it was my listening to what my body was telling me.

Running

So, after chatting with some very supportive running friends, I took their advice and switched to the 5 K Conditioning Program from page 289 of the book Running; The Complete Guide to Building Your Running Program by John Stanton. For those of you who’ve never heard of him, he is the founder of The Running Room.

Because I had already built up my running a bit with the first program I decided to start this one at week 5. It’s a 10-week program to get you to race day and it works on tens and ones. Because my first race will be the end of April, I have decided that I will only go to the 9th week and then I will flip over to page 290 and start the 5 K Advanced Program. I will pick that one up at week 4 and if my calculations are correct I should finish about a month before the race. I may have to have a week off due to eye surgery later this month though.

I am on week 6 of the 5 K Conditioning Program The sessions are setup for 3-times a week but I’ve decided to do one extra session or visit the indoor track depending on the week. I briskly walk for 5 minutes to warm up then start the 28-minute workout. In this training I walk for 1 minute then run for 10. Repeat. Then I walk for 1-minute, run for 4-minutes, and walk for 1. I follow with a 5-minute cool-down walk. What amazes me is that I have gone from running a mere 8-minutes per workout to 24-minutes and I find that the 1-minute walks are plenty to get me ready for the next 10. I couldn’t be more proud of myself.

While we are talking about the treadmill, Bryan and his best friend, Michael, did some measuring to ensure that it was reading properly. The distance is bang-on but the speed is showing as slower than it actually is by about .80 kmh. The good news is that I am actually running faster than I thought I was (insert beaming smile here). Bryan noticed there was an issue before they even used the measuring wheelie thing (big technical term) on it. Michael calibrated theirs too and it was a bit out on the distance end of things. The guys spent a good part of Saturday tinkering—this is what happens when you get a Service and Applications Engineer and an Electrical Journeyman together. I think they were actually having fun although I’m not sure if they’d admit that.

So, that’s what is going on with my dreadmill and me.

P.S. 109 sleeps until race day!!

Diabetes
As many of you know I am a Type 2 diabetic who has reversed the need for medication. This was not an easy task and exercise plays a significant role in that. The day I was taken off glucophage, my endocrinologist commented that if he could write a prescription for exercise and have the majority of his Type 2 patients follow it then many others could do what I have done. While I am off medications, I am still and will always be diabetic. Being fit and active will help with some of the nasty side effects of this disease… retinopathy, macular edema, and neuropathy have already reared their ugly heads. Blood sugar control keeps them from worsening and physical activity is key to that. Other risks of being diabetic are  kidney failure, heart attack, and stroke.  In fact, diabetics are at several times greater risk of heart disease and stroke than non-diabetics. I don’t take those risks lightly and being here to see my children grow up is paramount to me so I take running like others would pop a pill.

Weight loss and Nutrition
I’ve come very far, as you know, but I still have some weight to lose. I found that the workouts I had been doing in the past just weren’t giving me the challenge and level of cardiovascular intensity that I needed and I had hit a plateau. Big time. I find that running helps me stay in the right mindset about the food choices I make too. I look closely at what my body needs as a diabetic athlete and I create my meals with that in mind. Foods such as quinoa offer a healthy combination of carbohydrate, protein and amino acids. Vegetarian choices hit the menu several times a wake and when I do eat meat, I’ve been choosing leaner types and watching portion sizes. When I do indulge, such as the dessert I had on Christmas Eve, I pre-plan a workout session so that I can have the treat and enjoy it without the guilt or chance of gaining any weight.

Fitness
Building my cardiovascular fitness with running will also help me with other areas of my life. Backpacking and hiking will be easier because I am strengthening my lungs and I should have more endurance on wilderness hiking and paddling trips. It also helps me to be a more active Mom. I seem to recover from colds more speedily than in the past—perhaps because I still run, sick or not. I feel better overall. I don’t get winded doing simple tasks like going from the third floor to the basement with a big basket of laundry or running after an active toddler all day. I’m also finding that I’m toning and I’ve discovered I have a waist. Where did that come from? That’s a big deal because I haven’t seen my waist for about three decades.

Being a Role Model
Part of being a Mom is setting a good example for my kids when it comes to being active and eating right. Being healthy and modeling a healthy lifestyle is the biggest and most important gift I can give them. Sadly, my parents and siblings didn’t set good examples when it comes to proper nutrition and physical activity. As offensive as it sounds, they were a bit clueless and it certainly started me out on the wrong path considering I was seriously overweight as early as kindergarten. I can’t change the past but I can certainly change what happens today and what my children see as the norm. This role modelling goes beyond my children and it is my hope that it extends to my friends and family as well.

Exhilaration
It’s hard for me to put into words how great I feel when I run. I get off the treadmill or come home from the track and I feel a little bit of that runner’s high. To know that I did something I thought I could never do or that I pushed through my training session with an awful head and chest cold makes me feel awesome. It’s a mental and physical high. I have more energy, I sleep better and I feel better.

Competition
Competition comes in many forms and I won’t deny that I have a really competitive spirit. This isn’t so much about competition with others but more of a competition with myself. Each day that I run I try to give a little bit more than the day before. This can be with distance, effort, or speed. If I don’t push myself that little extra then I will stagnate. I am competitive, by nature, and I look at the time my peers are putting in to their workouts and am motivated to try to excel.

That First Race
I’ve always wanted to know what it feels like to cross a finish line as an athlete and I will achieve that goal. Someone told me that I don’t have what it takes and I am out to prove to myself that I do have what it takes. It will also set my personal benchmark for future races even though I plan to run it for fun. Now, I just have to remember to smile when I cross that finish line because it makes for a better photo opportunity.

Family Bonding
This is such a wonderful thing that has come out of running. My son, Tobias and my husband, Bryan have both decided to run with me. Bryan has totally embraced the sport and is going to train for a half-marathon after he runs the TREAD 6-hour Trail Run Relay in Mansfield this May. Tobias is considering a half-marathon as well. Both my guys are running my first race with me this April. It’s fun doing this as a family. Knowing that Tobias and his Daddy are bonding and spending “guy-time” together at the track is heart-warming. In fact, as I am writing this, they are doing just that.

Everyone has their own reasons for participating in a sport such as running and I hope reading mine has inspired you.