I’ve always enjoyed being active and used the gym regularly in college, but I made it a real part of my routine in 2007 when I finally got a gym membership. The main reason was to do strength training and some cardio, which included running a couple miles here and there around the indoor track. I realized that if I could run two miles, maybe I could build up to three or four and finally attempt a 5K. I made it a goal in 2009 and ran my first 5K in April of 2010. I was hooked and began to run races on a regular basis. A couple months later I did my first 10K and a year later I started to run half marathons. In 2013, I ran a 25K that went really well, which finally gave me the confidence to aim for a marathon. I ran my first marathon in October 2013.

Running has become a big part of my life and I feel that cross-training helps keep me balanced. After cycling a bit for a couple years to cross-train, I realized that I might want to think about triathlons as well. I grew up swimming and was on swim teams through middle school. By the time I got to high school, I knew I wasn’t fast enough to be competitive on a team and didn’t want to do it anymore. In late 2012, I decided I really wanted to get back to swimming and switched to a gym that gave me access to a nice lap pool. I built up the courage to do an indoor triathlon in March 2013 and did really well, so I finally pushed myself to try my first outdoor sprint triathlon in June 2013. Now I enjoy adding multi-sport events to the mix during the summer.

I’m always looking to push and challenge myself and enjoy learning what I’m capable of achieving. This blog is here to share my training and race experiences with anyone who actually finds it interesting! Thanks for reading, and feel free to share your advice or experiences with me as well.

– Janet

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