WELCOME

Welcome! Here's to the start of an amazing chapter of my life. As far back as I can remember I have always played sports, from volleyball to basketball to tennis to softball. Sports came natural to me and I loved every minute of being active. Even as a child I loved that rush of competition, working hard and doing the best I could do. I played pretty much every competitive sport growing up but my heart was drawn to swimming. At 4 years old I made it onto the summer swim team which I swam for until 10 years old, then I transitioned to a competitive year around swim team. I swam competitively until 18 years old when I went off to college. Sports and swimming was my life growing up. Everything revolved around games, swim meets and competitions. Countless practices and even in my down time I practiced some more. Then when I went off to college I decided to try exploring other paths. I still remained active but it was time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. As the years went on I focused less and less on sports. Then in 2002 I graduated college with a B.A. in Child Development and got married that same year. A few years later I my had my first child and my life changed! I was now a mom and my focus was my family. Soon I had my second child and shortly after I went back to work as a Pre-K teacher. Then 5 years after my second child I had my third child and 2 years later my fourth child. When our fourth child was born things began to hit the wall for me. I struggled with Postpartum Anxiety. I would wake up completely anxious and worried. I didn't feel like me. I felt lost. My kids and family were my world but I felt completely gone. I had lost myself along the path of raising a family. I was struggling. I felt alone. In June of 2015 a friend of mine suggested I sign up for running races with her. At first I was not interested. I played all sports growing up but I was not a runner. Running was not something I ever focused on. My friend convinced me to do a 5K and see if I liked it. In the beginning I couldn't even run a half mile without being completely exhausted and out of breath. After not being physically active for 10+ years my body was completely out of shape. But I was determined to do a 5K so I kept training. After just a couple months, in September 2015 I ran my first ever 5K! What an amazing feeling it was to cross that finish line when just a few months prior I couldn't even run 1/2 a mile! I was hooked. I could feel my competitiveness coming back. I wanted to push myself. I kept training as well as adding in strength training. I signed up for more 5K races and soon 10K's. Then I watched some friends compete in a triathlon. They swam, biked and ran. As I watched I felt my drive turn from running races to triathlons. I wanted to compete in Triathlons! At the start of 2016 I began my Triathlon training. I was training 6 days a week. Swimming, biking, running and strength training. In the middle of all this Triathlon training I decided to dip my feet into a Half Marathon! I ran the San Francisco Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in April 2016 and it felt amazing to finish 13.1 miles straight!! My passion for sports was back. I felt alive again! I felt happy! Then in June 2016 I signed up for my first Olympic Distance Triathlon, the Sacramento International Triathlon. After 6 hard months of training, pushing my limits to the max, I came in 4th in my age group for the Sacramento International Triathlon! I was so beyond proud! What a rush of emotions it was and what a difference a year makes. June 2015 I was just starting on my running journey and 1 year later in June 2016 I finished my first Olympic distance Triathlon! Then after competing in the Sac Triathlon I was presented with an amazing opportunity to run the New York Marathon in November with a wonderful conservation group. At first I had doubts running a marathon, 26.2 miles! But how could I pass up this opportunity out of fear, so I signed up! Come November I am going to be running the New York Marathon as part of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust team! So after my Triathlon in June I began training for the NY Marathon. Added in more swimming, biking, running and strength training to help build up my endurance and leg muscles. I am beyond excited and proud to be running with such an amazing team! This is a dream come true! Funny, looking back, it all started with my friend encouraging me to do 5K races...fast forward over a year later, and now I am going to run a full marathon...in NEW YORK CITY! If you had told me in June 2015 I would be running the New York Marathon I would have laughed! But here I am! Just 13 short weeks until the big race! I feel, at this moment, that I am on the right path. Sports have always played a dominant role in my life and it feels so good to be back competing. Stay tuned to my blog as I will be documenting my journey & races. Can't wait to see what the future holds!