I can’t remember my first introduction to exercise and wanting to be in shape. I don’t even know if it really began as wanting to stay in shape more than it was about just having fun. I think it began during my school yard days, racing up and down the pavement and beating all of my peers in Track & Field. People used to say I was really fast and I couldn’t wait to race the next person who challenged me. Maybe my interest was peaked because my mom used to run track while growing up in Jamaica. My brothers ran in high school, and being that I was always the “tomboy” it seems I always wanted, and always thought I could do everything they did, including competitive sports.

Fast forward, I did a range of other sports in high school, including cheerleading, and soon enough running was lost. Years later, in college, as I was reminded by friends that I always forced them to go jogging with me up crazy steep hills and meet me at the gym at the crack of dawn. Its weird how I forgot about those times. But, let me explain why.

Over the years I have had the tendency to work-out. Bust my butt in the gym, do some jogging around town, and always recruit a friend to join me. This would last for a few months, and then I would completely stop, probably for double or triple the time.

I was talking with my sister recently and was telling her how amazed I was to hear people say they would run 5 miles a day. A day! So, I thought to myself, I will do that one day and one day, I’ll run a marathon. I never knew it would come as fast as it did, but, it did.

In 2013, I was searching the Marathon Sports website to see what kind of running shoes I could buy to get back into exercising, and I came across a post for the Saucony 26 Strong project. I emailed the store rep, and soon enough, I was being contacted by Competitor Magazine representatives to participate. Woot-woot!, I was so excited.

Thanks to Saucony and Competitor Magazine, I was of the first cohort to participate in this project that paired veteran runners with newbie runners to coach them to their first marathon. I was paired with Laura Dempsey, who blogs about her running adventures at Run Like a Girl.

I ran the Smuttynose Rockfest Marathon in New Hampshire on October 6, 2013, finishing with a time of 5:38:27. It was cold and light rain started to come down. I forgot to put my headphones in to listen to music but instead the sound of feet on the pavement kept me focused. I talked to myself the entire way, telling myself “you can do it, keep going”. I trained for 7 or 8 months prior to the race and it was an amazing feeling to have done what I did. I was even featured in Competitor and Women’s Running Magazine.

Here’s the run down of my first Marathon

Run: Start Line-mile 9

Bathroom break: mile 9

Run: mile 9-15

Walk and refuel break: mile 15-16

Run: mile 16-21

Walk and refuel break: mile 21-22

Run: mile 22-26.2

Since then, I’ve completed the Los Angeles Marathon, and countless other Half-marathons, 10K and 5K races. I found a real love for running and I continued running even when I lived abroad. I have currently taken a hiatus from running because I am nursing myself back from an injury, but I’ve got other things up my sleeve for the time being. Stay tuned for that!

How about you? What was your first marathon? Any plans to run any races? Let me know and maybe Ill see you at the start line!

Many thanks to Saucony, 26 Strong, Competitor Magazine and Womens Running Magazine. My journey for healthy living continues.