Lake County Member-At-Large
I am 51 years YOUNG and live in Highland, IN with my husband and two children. I am also an RN and have worked as a visiting nurse for the last twenty years. Although I have been on the "injured list" for the last three years, I have tried to stay involved with the Striders even if all I could do was walk. That says something about this club!
Flashback to 1998 - if you had told me that I would be slim, in shape, remarried and run a marathon, I would have told you - "You are nuts!". I weighed 197 pounds, couldn't walk around the block without being short of breath and marriage ? - don't think so! After weighing in for an insurance physical and being labeled "morbidly obese", I knew I had better make some changes. Nurses and mothers tend to take care of everyone else but themselves. It took almost two years but I lost 70 pounds. That is when, at the urging of my trainer, I tried some running. And I do mean - "Urging Me!" - because I hated it and struggled to do five minutes on the treadmill. I kept at it and when I worked my way up to one mile, I started to run outdoors. I was hooked! The first race I did was a six miler with hills, and I was the last one in. Being new to running, I thought the ambulance behind me was because they though I was going to drop dead; not part of the race safety standards.
After that I joined the Calumet Region Striders so that I could keep abreast of races in our area. It was at Joe Mis's Friendship Run in Hammond while standing in line at the port-o-pot that I met my husband Chuck. We met in July, were engaged by November and married in April. That fall we trained with the OE team in training and ran the Chicago Marathon together. What a great experience!
I cannot begin to tell you of the many other terrific people I have met since being involved in the running community. I guarantee that you will never go to a race and feel left out. Someone will always welcome you and strike up a conversation even if it is just about their latest aches and pains, new running shoes or to brag about their personal best. I did not start running until my mid 40s and only wish I had discovered the joys of running sooner.
Now I am running away from getting old.
Come join us!