ABOUT
ME
How Running Changed My Life
I was always an athlete growing up. I played baseball, basketball, soccer, and even a couple years of football. The one thing I hated most about playing sports was running long distances! I ran as little as possible to get in shape to compete in my favorite sports.
Playing sports 12 months a year, I didn't really need to run all that much because I was always active. But that changed when I went away to college and the daily practices and weekly games came to a halt. As opposed to being motivated by a coach to run hard during practice, or to work hard in the off-season, the motivation was now mine. As the years went on, my activity went down and down. I stopped playing basketball, would not even think of going on a run on my own, and my health suffered slowly, but surely.
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Soon after graduation from college, I started working full-time and became even less active and just a few years later my wife and I welcomed our first daughter into the world. I was eating poorly, incredibly out of shape, and started to experience back pain. My back got worse and worse and I thought the best thing to do was rest. But that did not help at all, and I could barely even complete basic daily activities as my back hurt so much. I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my back and I couldn't pick up my newborn daughter. I was even sleeping on the floor in my bedroom because it felt better than sleeping in a bed.
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I tried everything from visiting a chiropractor to steroid injections and I even considered back surgery. At 26 years old! I was getting desperate. One doctor who I saw said I should just get used to this pain because I'll be dealing with it the rest of my life. When I heard that diagnosis I turned pale and almost passed out right there in the office. The only positive from that news was I became determined to change my life. I was not going to live like this the rest of my life, I was not going to live in pain, and I was going to do something about it starting now.
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Simply resting my back was not working, so I decided to do the opposite. I started walking and that first step is what changed my life. I walked slowly at first a couple days a week, which then turned into almost every day. Then I started swimming at the YMCA. Things started to improve for me. Not immediately, but slowly over time. I felt better physically and mentally. I then took the next step and started to run a tiny bit. A half a mile turned into one mile, which turned into two miles, which eventually, over about six months, turned into a 5K.
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Over the past 15 years I've kept up my running and although I've hit some bumps in the road, I'm proud to say that I've completed multiple marathons and half-marathons and on my 40th birthday in September of 2021, I ran 40 miles! But that didn't just happen quickly. You can't go from sleeping on the floor to running 40 miles overnight. It happens one step at a time and that's what I'm here for - to help you take YOUR first step. To help you run your first 5K, or your first half-marathon or even your first marathon! Join me! I'm here to help.
Achievements
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Ran 40 miles on my 40th birthday (9/4/21) - CHECK OUT MY JOURNEY TO 40 MILES
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Completed multiple marathons
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Completed many more half-marathons
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Became a healthy, active, and happy person in large part because of running!