From a young age, I have always loved running even if I have not been doing it as regularly as I would like to and as I used to. I ran every day in college, still worked out in the gym every day while pregnant and life has ‘just gotten in my way’ so it has been on the bottom of my priority list for a while now…

And here I was, one night up way too late and registering for the Columbus Marathon in the fall… It started with a conversation I had with a friend who is a runner and participates in marathons all the time. She told me to just sign up and start training and that is what I did! Except that I knew the sign-up part was easy but now the ‘real work’ would start.

In addition, the severe winter this year certainly did not invite for runs outside-I have been taking every chance I got. Every half-way decent day in the past months during the weekend I would bundle up my youngest and start running in the park. I knew I had to do more! I started looking at gyms nearby and even though I had never considered taking classes before school and getting up at a time when I would generally still be in a warm bed sleeping, I knew I had to give it a try! Surprisingly, I am so glad I did-I love my spinning, TRX, Pump and Spin and Boot Camp classes! Who would have known that it is NOT a big deal to get up quite a bit earlier to enjoy a great workout and be fully awake and ready for the day?

As I am still getting used to some classes, especially the ones that I am taken out of my comfort zone (yoga!), I love feeling the effects of getting up earlier, starting to feel healthier and stronger and cannot wait for the warmer spring days ahead when I get to push myself and tackle longer and longer distances moving toward my big goal!