I'm new to this and not really sure how this is going to go, but if you're reading this, you probably want to know a little about me and why I am beginning a blog. So here's my story...
When I was 5, my parents allowed me to begin riding horses after our second trip out west to a "Dude Ranch." My sister had began riding 2 years earlier and of course, I wanted to follow in her foot steps. At that point in my life that was all I was going to do, I mean seriously, what 5 year old girl doesn't want to ride a pony, let alone eventually have one of her own.
The only picture I have of me on one of the horses from the ranch, 1987
About a year later, my sister got her first pony, Mr. D. Of course, I had to get one too, but mine was one my mom picked out, she told me that he looked "just like a little teddy bear." I think she may have gotten teddy bear confused with devil because that was just what Midnight was, before he was trained. I fell off that pony so many times, I told my parents when I was only 7 or 8 years old, that I was "giving up my riding career." What kid at that age even knows what that means? Eventually, I learned to dust off my britches after each buck, rear, run-a-way, or anything in-between and move forward as Midnight and I learned things together.
Midnight looked so innocent when you weren't riding him, 1989
Before I knew it, I had grown out of Midnight and had inherited Mr. D, who has been ridden by everyone in northern Virginia at sometime. I felt pretty special because I knew that I could go somewhere with this pony. He took me from being an average rider to competing at the national level, not just once, but five times. We even took home gold medals twice! He was an amazing pony who is still jumping from field to field at 35 years old.
Mr. D and I at Show Jumping Nationals, 1995
Over the years, I went through many ponies and horses that I competed at the local and national level, until I met Simon, the horse that changed my life. He is amazing horse with a huge heart, he took me places I never imagined I would go. He was my one and only 3-day eventing horse. He took me to my first international competition. He was everything I ever dreamed of and we were a great pair. We even qualified for the USEA Area II North American Young Riders Team, but we never got there.
Simon and I competing prelim, Fall 1999
During the summer of 2000, my mom died suddenly and my world was turned up-side-down. It was also the summer I started college. When the summer began I had thought I was eventually going to soar to the highest of heights with my riding, but as the summer ended and school began I knew I had to put riding on hold. For the next four years I focused on school and having fun, not continuing with the one thing I had always known as a constant, the horses. I would ride here and there, competing in a few International Student Rider Competitions, but never owning my own horses. After graduating in 2004, I began to ride consistently for the next few years until 2008. I finally realized that I needed come to terms with the fact that I lived in Fairfax County, was a teacher, and could not afford the horses. I had to find something less expensive...running?
I saying running with a question mark, because let's be honest, I'm not built to be a runner, I know that. I first began to walk with a little bit of running every few minutes in 2008 when I was introduced to the Girls on the Run (GOTR) program at my school. I remember telling my fellow teacher and GOTR coach that I would do the race in May 2008 with someone who would walk, but maybe run a little. Well, I'm not sure she heard me right because that girl RAN...A LOT! At least I thought she did, now looking back, I should have given myself more credit, I could do more than I ever thought.
I continued running with the program at school the following fall, this time I was going to run...or so I thought. I was ready to run, slow, but ready to run, in the December 2008 race, but my buddy runner was a talkative 3rd grader who wanted to just take a stroll and have a great conversation. This was great, but what about MY goal? It was then that I decided to take matters into my own hands. I needed to race for myself. At this point, I resorted to the running experts I knew, my two stepsisters and two good friends, all marathon runners. They convinced me to sign up for the VA Beach Rock 'n Roll 1/2 Marathon over Labor Day of 2009...13.1 miles and only 6 months to train, I wasn't sure I could do it. Low and behold with a lot of motivation from the 4 of them and a lot of determination from myself, I finished in 2:31:40.
After finishing my first 1/2 marathon
VA Beach Rock 'n Roll 1/2 Marathon, September 2009
Between September 2009 and September 2010 I continued to run a number of 5 and 10ks, trying to improve each time, but it wasn't until October 2010 that I really got focused. After my time got messed up during the Marine Corps 10k because I went through the finish line twice I realized I didn't want any slower times connected to my name. Basically, my competitive side kicked in. I continued to race and decided that I would sign up for another 1/2 marathon, Shamrock, March 2011. I finished that half in 2:07:03 and felt great afterward.
After the Shamrock 1/2 Marathon, March 2011
It was after that race that I decided I was going to sign up for a full marathon. Yes, I am going to run 26.2 miles on October 30, 2011 at the Marine Corps Marathon. Although, I have been my training since June, I am going to begin to post about it on here. I thought I was making a long story short, but clearly that's not the case. All-in-all, I know how to focus all my time and energy into one sport for many, many years, so now here is my chance to do it with another...let's see how it goes!
