The 2011 Lead Strong Half-Marathon

     Late last summer I finally made the decision to get in better shape.  Starting in my late teens I started to be more active in an attempt to lose weight and feel better about myself.  At the age of 16, I weighed nearly 200 pounds and I have to say that it was a big strain on my 5'6'' frame.  Thinking back it is hard to imagine how I ballooned to such a size in just over a span of 2 years.  My senior year of high school I signed up for a weight lifting class and the exercise coupled with newly acquired self esteem allowed me to drop nearly 40 pounds in a relatively short time.
     Since then I have hovered around the same weight (160-165lbs.) but I was never satisfied with my body image or how I would get winded walking up stairs.  I would make sporadic visits to the gym but never developed a habit or routine.  Last summer, I decided to finally make that change.  I have always "wanted" to make that change but last summer is the first time I actually "WANTED" it.  I developed a workout routine using some great online resources (more on that in later posts) and took advantage of the encouraging words offered by others.
     So today I am proud to announce that I am going to participate in the 2011 LEAD Strong Half-marathon on April 30th!

     All proceeds from the half-marathon will go to Maggie's Light, a Maryland based non-profit that helps families with special needs children and young adults.  I've been training specifically for the half-marathon over the past few weeks and I'll be happy to share my progress with you in future posts!