I’ve been a runner almost my whole life. No matter what I’ve been through, where I’ve lived, who I was, I’ve maintained being a runner.

I remember when I was in junior high and our p.e. teacher made us run 2 miles and everyone was moaning and complaining. And I was one of them until we began. I felt good so I ran faster, then faster, then faster and soon realized I was almost all alone. I finished first that day and thought “that was actually fun”. I had caught the running bug.

I ran track and cross-country and was decent, not the best by far but not the worst. But I loved the feeling of a good, long run. When I went to college, I cheered and being in shape was a necessity. So running helped but for me running helped so much more.

While I was in my abusive relationship, I often felt like I was trapped in a pin wheel. Constantly going around and around and never really going anywhere. Running was my release. My boyfriend would “allow” me to go for runs because it kept me in shape, kept me looking the way he liked so it was not only my release but my salvation at times.

I remember thinking “I’ll just run until I’m not upset anymore or I’ll just run until I can’t feel the pain”. That’s how I built my endurance.

After leaving him, I stopped running as much because I had started to associate it with him. I associated it with being forced to do it to stay in shape and the fun was gone from it.

Then I went to counseling and everything made sense and I was able to love anything I wanted. I could do whatever I wanted. I could enjoy things I wanted. So I began running again and haven’t stopped.

When I moved to the DFW area 5 years ago, I began running races because the choices down here are endless and there are some great courses! I had only ran a few 5k’s and those were fun but I decided to run The Cowtown 10k in February of 2012 and I was hooked. I went home and signed up for my first half marathon that I ran in March 2012.

Since then I’ve run 11 half marathons, 2 full marathons and numerous 10k’s and 5k’s.

The last two years have been quite a roller coaster. When I found out I was pregnant, I was training for my second full marathon and had hopes to qualify for the Boston marathon within the racing season. Well, that was sidetracked lol. But I didn’t want to stop running while pregnant so I just altered my running goals. I ran 1 full marathon and 5 half marathons during my first pregnancy and I loved it. As my belly grew, my pace slowed down and at 7 1/2 months pregnant, I ran my last pregnant half marathon.

After my daughter was born, I had already deferred my Houston marathon from the year before since my doctor said no because I would be too far along. I had my training plan in place, I was determined to run my 3rd full marathon 7 months postpartum. Well, if you have ever trained for a marathon, you know the time commitment it takes. I couldn’t do it. When I had the choice to snuggle my newborn or go out for a long run, snuggle time won every single time. I also had a breastfeeding goal and ended up exclusively pumping and my schedule for pumping came first and it was intense but feeding my daughter was my priority. I soon realized a full marathon would not be in my future. I dropped down to the half and tried to stick to my training. I was actually pretty pleased when I finished my 11th half marathon, 7 months postpartum in 2 hours 16 minutes. My training was way off and my heart wasn’t in my race. After that, I took some time off and then I began missing it.

I’m learning to balance time for myself. I love running. I love the feeling I get during a great run,the feeling after a long, hard run.It’s my time to release stress, to talk to God, to have a moment to myself in a world of crazy and busy. After my daughter turned one and we made it to a year of breastfeeding (exclusively pumping), I had no more excuses and honestly I missed my runs.

I started off slow,only a few miles and a few times a week. But I’m a runner and I love races so not long after starting again, I signed up for 2 half marathons. I’ll be running my 12th half marathon on November 13th a day before my 33rd birthday. And I’ll finally return to The Cowtown;  my favorite race in February 2017.

Looks can be deceiving and I know when I post about running, some may not understand my love of the run. Some may think, “she’s showing off”, some people may think I’m trying to lose weight, some think “well if she can do it, so can I”. First, I hope to motivate anyone who needs it: plain and simple. Second, sure I would love to lose some extra baby weight that has lingered well after I had my daughter, but running to me is so much more than just exercise. Third, I hope you do feel inspired to get out there and go for a run but please know this: run.your.race. I’ve been running for a long time and have learned what works for me but that may not work for you. And have a goal to be the best runner you can be, don’t compare to anyone else. I love competing against myself. I love pushing myself to beat my time. I will probably never win an actual race but that’s never my goal. I’m always running to beat my last time, to get a PR, to run my race.

For me, running has always been my number one exercise. Running has been my release, my safe haven, my anchor. It has helped me through so much in my life. And I hope I can pass on my love of running to my daughter. I love taking her out on runs with me and we’ve done a stroller 5k race and hope to do more. I hope she grows up knowing that mommy runs because it gives her time with God, she enjoys it, and it keeps her healthy.

And if she chooses to run, I hope above all she learns this: run. your. race.