I began my running journey in January of 2013. It started out small - half a mile on the treadmill and then a mile and eventually I would take my training outside and surprise myself by running almost 5 miles on a hilly (well, hilly for Ohio) course. Here's the thing though, I never thought I could be a runner. I was scarred by memories of my elementary school gym teacher trying to "encourage" me to run faster miles, but sounding angry and intimidating rather than encouraging. I was the third grade queen of dandelion picking and 13 minute miles. Fast forward to 2011 when I found myself in the hospital fighting a rare gasto - vascular illness called Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome. I found myself unable to eat more than a bite or two of food without feeling sickeningly full. I was quickly and dangerously losing weight, energy and began sleeping a lot. I spent a month in the hospital with minimal success in getting better. I was sent home with a central line which fed me nutrients for three months until I could finally eat enough food on my own. I certainly owe my life to the relentlessness of my doctors. I continued to get better, but found that I had developed a really unhealthy relationship with food. Food had become my enemy for so long that I feared eating and struggled to eat enough for the next year and a half. When December of 2012 came around, I decided I needed to do something active that would also require me to eat enough food and take in enough calories to stay healthy.

Enter running. At first, running did just that. However, after a few months, I realized that running wasn't only something I was doing in an attempt to reach a healthy relationship with food, but was something that I enjoyed because I could challenge myself to go beyond what I perceived I was capable of. In May 2013, I ran my first 5K and November 2013 brought me to my first half - marathon! Although today I still have days where I struggle with how I view food, the relationship is much healthier because I recognize that I need that fuel for my body to continue running and doing the things I never thought it could. And I am so proud to say that REVEL Rockies half - marathon is my midway training point to my first FULL marathon in October! Running really did help me get my life back and I couldn't be more proud of the future I have because of that!