Mom in the Mtns

Hi everyone!  I’m really excited about today’s post!  You may or may not know that a few months ago I was chosen to become an I’m Fit Possible Ambassador.  It’s a great group of fitness-minded people and I love meeting new bloggers through the group.  When the group set up a blog swap for its members I was really excited to join up.  So today’s blog post will be coming to you from from one of the other fabulous members, Adrienne of See Adrienne Run!

Hello lovely readers of Run Away With Me my name is Adrienne and I blog over at see ADRIENNE run. I was super excited when I was accepted to be an I’m Fit Possible member and told that we would be doing a blog swap. This has given me (a new blogger) the chance to meet some great people in the fitness community like Kristen! When we discussed what I would talk about I decided telling my journey to start running and now on to my first half marathon would be perfect, so here ya go!
Well for starters, I reside in Cleveland, I am girlfriend, sister, daughter, pet parent, pizza and wine lover oh yea and a runner, training for my first Half Marathon: The Rite Aide Cleveland Marathon

My journey with running has been a tumultuous one to say the least; we have a love hate relationship. I started running a little over two years ago, I hated running. I was always that girl in gym class that walked the mile, and couldn’t even fathom the thought of running. The only physical activity I cared about was dance. I have been dancing since I was 3 years old, went off to college for dance and still teach dance to this day, that was my life, my first love. But I was starting to become bored with dance; I was at a standstill in my dance career. I felt like I had lost that spark, I couldn’t create anymore and felt completely lost.

That’s where running comes in to play; I needed something new to re-energize me, something to make me feel alive again. I wanted to do something big, something that I could look back and be proud of, an accomplishment. So one day I thought, I hate running, runners are nuts running a marathon or even a 5k is crazy, but….I want to do it. So that is exactly what I did, downloaded the Couch to 5k program and trained for 6 months for my first 5k. It took me forever to actually build up to running for even 2 minutes, it was a painful process. I had days where I thought I was crazy, why did I ever think this would be a good idea? And then days where it started to get easier, it was actually fun and I was enjoying running, and even (GASP!) looking forward to the run days.

Running took my mind off of everything that was killing me inside about giving up dance, and possibly falling out of love with the art form. It was an outlet, a way for me to forget about everything for 30 to 45 minutes a day. I quickly gained tons of self-confidence and had something I could be proud of again; my family was super supportive and was constantly asking me how my training was going. I felt like ME again!

My first 5k was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in September of 2012, truly a life changing experience to run side by side with cancer survivors, their families, and those running in memory of their loved ones. After that race I was hooked! And now here I am 2 years later, crazy in love with running and training for my first half MARATHON in May!

My training has been rather slow since I sustained a small foot injury my very first week in. I have learned with running that no matter how much you plan and prepare any and EVRYTHING will happen. I am all healed and back on my training, counting down the days till my first half marathon: 54 days to be exact! I am nervous and excited and cannot wait to feel that finish line feeling once again.
I am so thankful to have found running it has given me meaning again, every day is a new goal, a new journey. I am proud to be a runner and am thankful that I decided to do something I never thought was possible.
Please stop by my blog: see ADRIENNE run, and check out more about me, my story and what’s going on in my world! Thanks!
– Adrienne

Thanks Adrienne for swapping blogs with me for the day!  Everyone go check out Adrienne’s blog to read my guest post:  13 Things You Should Know About Running A Half Marathon.  And go cheer Adrienne on as she trains for her first half!