As I sit down and reflect on the last year of my life I can’t help but think of how immensely PROUD I am of myself. During a global pandemic, I managed to completely change my life around and stick to the goals that I set for myself in January 2020. In order to understand where I was at mentally and physically at the start of 2020, let me bring it back to college.
College: I started going to fitness classes in the Fall of 2017 once I realized I needed to move my body more. I grew up playing sports and loved being active, it just seemed in college I’d fallen out of this habit. I fell in love with spin classes and Zumba that year and went religiously! Then in Spring 2018 I decided to sign up for a half marathon. I’m not quite sure what came over me, but it seemed like a cool idea and I thought this would force me into wanting to run. BOY WAS I WRONG. I trained up to 4 miles leading up to the half marathon… Somehow I still managed to cross the finish line.. After this I didn’t run again for months. In January 2019 I started going to Orangetheory! I loved that I only had to run ~20 minutes and learned how to do strength training. Seeing my speeds increase became extremely exciting for me and I felt myself beginning to build the endurance I should’ve built when half marathon training. Up until June I was going to Orangetheory and spin classes religiously!
Post Grad 2019: I graduated from school in Spring 2019, went abroad, then started work in July 2019. My job was about 50% travel. Since I was never in one space long enough to build a routine, I found it very difficult to stick to my health and fitness. I justified not grocery shopping or working out because the next week I would be on the road again, or this week I was on the road, so why wouldn’t I treat myself. In the last 5 months of 2019 I lost most of my athletic ability I had spent the previous year building and found myself gaining the consultant 15+ from all the room service and airport meals.
January 2020: I knew I either needed to purchase a new set of work clothes, or figure out my nutrition and workout schedule. This is where running came into play! I signed myself up for WeightWatchers to learn how to build a healthy meal, regardless if I was on the road or at my apartment. I signed up for the Orangetheory Transformation Challenge and held myself accountable for going to 3 classes a week and doing a run outside one day on the weekend. This meant going to the 6:15am classes even when I was traveling in order to make nightly team dinners and outings. After a month of that routine I felt pretty confident and decided to sign up for the DC Rock and Roll Half Marathon for the end of March. I really wanted to give running a half marathon another shot and actually stick to a training program. I knew that you could run anywhere, and it’d be easier to find someplace to run outside while traveling than locating an Orangetheory. Next thing I knew I was going on my first long run, 4 miles! I remember finishing the run and being so proud of myself for running the first two miles before starting to walk! Another month went by and I’d built myself up to 9 miles by the start of March! I couldn’t believe how prepared I felt for my half marathon and was beginning to get really excited. Then the world shut down. I wasn’t worried because I was sure my race would still happen, maybe just a few weeks later. I kept running a few miles here and there to keep up my endurance and waited for a new race date. After a few weeks it hit me, the race day wasn’t happening unless I set one for myself. I told my parents that for my birthday (May 12th) I wanted them to throw me a Half Marathon! May 12th came along and my family couldn’t be more excited for me. They saw how hard I’d worked over the past few months and were happy to cheer me on and refill my water bottle. I found this half marathon to be challenging, but I knew I prepared for it and was really proud of what I’d accomplished.
June 2020: A few weeks went by and I found myself going on 3-5 mile runs during the week and 8-10 mile runs on the weekends just to keep up my endurance. My Saturday long run had become something I was looking forward to all week and left me with a runners high all weekend. I’d been entertaining the idea of running a marathon, but was pretty unsure. I floated the idea past my parents and they couldn’t be more excited. They offered to pay for my entry fee to run the Houston Marathon in January 2021! I knew I had to hop on this offer before they changed their minds and found myself signed up for a marathon. I spent the whole summer running about 100 miles a month to maintain a good base and went for a long run 8-12 mile long runs every weekend.
September 2020: Marathon training had officially begun. I followed the Hal Hidgon App and was so excited to embark on this journey. Thankfully I documented this whole thing on my Instagram account and essentially wrote a diary entry every weekend starting at 8 miles up to the 20 mile long run. I LOVED the structure that marathon training provided for me. I planned my weeks around my runs and found myself rarely bored! The training was mentally and physically exhausting, but the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.
January 2021: On January 9th 2021 I completed the Virtual Houston Marathon and became a marathoner. One year before that I was excited that I’d done a 4 mile long run. Three years before that I could barely run a mile. My family and friends yet again made race day such an unforgettable experience for me (https://www.instagram.com/reel/CJ3sMOABvEZ/). It is something I will never forget. I’m not quite sure what’s next for me on this running journey. I know that I’ve found a safe place while running. It’s something that brings me joy, and lets me forget about the world, a true escape.
If you’re interested in any of my running recap posts from training, just look at my Instagram! I have a story highlight called HOU 2021 (https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17865137272884516/) which has all of the stories I posted while training. If you want to read about my individual runs, click on any photo of me on my Instagram where I look sweaty. I probably just finished a long run and wrote a recap about it!
Super-Duper website! I am loving it!! Will be back later to read some more. I am bookmarking your feeds also. Hertha Berkeley Vins