In the Beginning

Due to some recent events I have been inspired to write about my running experience:

Back when I was in middle school I was into every single club and extra curricular activity I could get into. I did Si Se Puede, Math Club ( I was a mathlete :-B), zoo club, YMCA 6 to 6 program, and I'm sure I'm missing a few. I honestly don't know why, but I just liked being busy and trying new things. One of the things I tried, was the running club we had at my middle school, the "Mile Club". Once a week we would meet and run, there were only about.... 3 of us in the beginning back in 1998.

  I enjoyed it enough to run several times a week, so much so that I was the first person to complete 100 miles in the "Mile Club". I did my first 5k and 10k at the age of 13 while I was part of the Mile Club- a great experience. I think my cousin Carlos was the one who inspired me, he was a Cross Country runner for Clairemont High. So I figured I'd start early and join the Mile Club to prepare me for Cross Country, which I started as soon as I got into High School.

During High School, I did Cross Country and Track for 4 yrs. I had great teammates and a great coach. I was not the best, by far I needed a lot of help, but the support was there and I improved as the years went by. I loved running, it became a part of how I defined myself. Sadly, in my Sophomore year in High School I ran with improper shoes and longer than I should have and injured my knee. I had no health insurance above what is required to do sports in high school, so I went in with Coach Stevenson to a sports clinic and they told me it was "over-use".... to this day I still dont know a 100% what that means, except it hurt! I was told to not run and just rest... but I loved to run. So again, sadly, I disobeyed and ran through my highschool years. Now looking back on it, I think that staying off it and running later would have been the best bet for me, I would have healed and been able to work harder than I was able to with the injury. Oh well. Lesson learned!

  Once I graduated Highschool I went to Mesa College where I did Cross Country for 1 year. I enjoyed the team and the workouts, the only thing is, the injury was still there! Unfortunately, after a few races and several trips to physcial therapy, I threw in the towel. I couldn't finish races, it just hurt too much. FINALLY, once Cross Country season was over I decided to stop. I realized I was only hurting myself more by running. So I threw myself fully into other things like school, church, youth group and work (flowers). Through that "rest" time (about 3 yrs), I couldn't help but run every so often, but I jogged, slowly and very short distances. I loved running and just couldn't stop cold turkey!

  More to come....