I'm not great with words. There, I said it. Put me in a college Calculus class or in Biology, I'll do just fine. Put me in an 11th grade English and Writing class... yeah I'll hyperventilate... a lot.
However!!! I have a lot to say, and a lot to say about my running journey at that. I'm a full year into falling in love with running all over again, and I felt it was time to just tighten my shoelaces and start writing. I have met so many people from the running community through my Instagram @runningawayfromadulting, and viewing their blogs only brought me closer to desiring to start my own. There's also a character limit on IG, sooooooo...
To those who are reading this, I am NOT AN EXPERT and will never claim to be. Blogging for me is a space to vent to whomever wants to listen, to encourage others as they continue their own fitness journeys, to share my triumphs and failures, and so much more. This space will not tolerate negativity, condescending attitudes, or bs. I will probably curse, complain, and god knows what else. If you don't like it, here's the cool thing, you don't have to read it! That is your human ability and right to deter your eyes away from the screen and the page.
Now that that is out of the way, let me introduce to you how I came to the very point I was at just over a year ago (I'll get into the details of my last year of running as time progresses).
I was not an athlete in high school. I played field hockey, but I started training on the first day of preseason and stopped playing after the last game of the season. During my junior year of high school, I met a guy who played soccer all year round. He didn't weigh much more than me (actually he's a whole horrible story in itself), and I figured I should probably pick my bum up and move. So the summer before my senior year of hockey season, I started to exercise and watch what I ate. Come first day of preseason, I was doing pretty alright. Well, on the fourth day of two-a-days, I was in a sprinting drill and tore my left quad 20 meters in.
I was crushed. I lost my whole season. During the season, I went to physical therapy, spending countless hours trying to get back on the field. After PT, I would go home and run... not far, but just enough to feel my leg recover. I played 5 minutes of my Senior Night... and that was it for field hockey.
However, I lost a ton of weight and felt better. Well, running and exercising became a full on addiction (eventually lead to an unhealthy one, but again, another story for another day). I went to Planet Fitness after my serving shifts and would run 4-5 days a week for the rest of my high school days. I ran my first 5K in the Spring of 2012.
Going into my first year of college, I continued to run until my schooling became overwhelming during spring semester. I ran a couple more 5Ks, an 8K, and a 10K that fall, and then randomly given a bib from a friend for the Broad Street 10 Miler in the Spring of 2013.
Following that, I lost touch with running. I started working full time while also going to school full time.
My senior year of college was when I looked at myself and remembered how much I loved running. I told myself that I wanted to be able to tell my kids some day that I ran a half marathon. So in the Spring of 2016, I started to train for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon. Here's the problem... I had no idea how to train. So I inevitably gave myself a beautiful stress fracture in my tibia and couldn't run it.
Since then, I've grown so much as a runner. I have my running friends from IG to thank for that, and cannot wait to grow as a blogger and get to experience and learn from other bloggers as well.
If you've read this far, please leave a comment on what you thought and any advice you have for me going forward as a newbie in blogging!
<3
However!!! I have a lot to say, and a lot to say about my running journey at that. I'm a full year into falling in love with running all over again, and I felt it was time to just tighten my shoelaces and start writing. I have met so many people from the running community through my Instagram @runningawayfromadulting, and viewing their blogs only brought me closer to desiring to start my own. There's also a character limit on IG, sooooooo...
To those who are reading this, I am NOT AN EXPERT and will never claim to be. Blogging for me is a space to vent to whomever wants to listen, to encourage others as they continue their own fitness journeys, to share my triumphs and failures, and so much more. This space will not tolerate negativity, condescending attitudes, or bs. I will probably curse, complain, and god knows what else. If you don't like it, here's the cool thing, you don't have to read it! That is your human ability and right to deter your eyes away from the screen and the page.
Now that that is out of the way, let me introduce to you how I came to the very point I was at just over a year ago (I'll get into the details of my last year of running as time progresses).
I was not an athlete in high school. I played field hockey, but I started training on the first day of preseason and stopped playing after the last game of the season. During my junior year of high school, I met a guy who played soccer all year round. He didn't weigh much more than me (actually he's a whole horrible story in itself), and I figured I should probably pick my bum up and move. So the summer before my senior year of hockey season, I started to exercise and watch what I ate. Come first day of preseason, I was doing pretty alright. Well, on the fourth day of two-a-days, I was in a sprinting drill and tore my left quad 20 meters in.
I was crushed. I lost my whole season. During the season, I went to physical therapy, spending countless hours trying to get back on the field. After PT, I would go home and run... not far, but just enough to feel my leg recover. I played 5 minutes of my Senior Night... and that was it for field hockey.
However, I lost a ton of weight and felt better. Well, running and exercising became a full on addiction (eventually lead to an unhealthy one, but again, another story for another day). I went to Planet Fitness after my serving shifts and would run 4-5 days a week for the rest of my high school days. I ran my first 5K in the Spring of 2012.
Going into my first year of college, I continued to run until my schooling became overwhelming during spring semester. I ran a couple more 5Ks, an 8K, and a 10K that fall, and then randomly given a bib from a friend for the Broad Street 10 Miler in the Spring of 2013.
Following that, I lost touch with running. I started working full time while also going to school full time.
My senior year of college was when I looked at myself and remembered how much I loved running. I told myself that I wanted to be able to tell my kids some day that I ran a half marathon. So in the Spring of 2016, I started to train for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon. Here's the problem... I had no idea how to train. So I inevitably gave myself a beautiful stress fracture in my tibia and couldn't run it.
Since then, I've grown so much as a runner. I have my running friends from IG to thank for that, and cannot wait to grow as a blogger and get to experience and learn from other bloggers as well.
If you've read this far, please leave a comment on what you thought and any advice you have for me going forward as a newbie in blogging!
<3
Yay! I'm so glad you took the leap! Can't wait to see what's to come!
ReplyDeleteAw thanks Steff!! Thank you so much for your guidance and encouragement!!
ReplyDeleteI don't really have any tips, just letting you know I stopped by. I follow a handful of fitness blogs, I'll add yours to the list!
ReplyDelete@journey.2.self.love on Instagram
So great you putting your story out there =) I always like hearing how people came into running. Looking forward to reading future blog posts!
ReplyDelete