How it all started

At the new year of 2013, I officially said goodbye to being a vegetarian after many years and welcomed the lifestyle change of vegan.  My husband had been a vegan for nearly a year already and saw many health benefits, so I figured I would accept the challenge as well. After all, just dropping dairy from my diet would be easy....right?

I think the hardest challenge was leaving cheese behind. Becoming a vegan baker turned into a fun challenge, learning how to substitute natural ingredients for the oils and dairy that used to be included. I'm not much of a cook in the kitchen, but baking is one thing I do enjoy when I can gather some free time.

I wanted to get back into more physical exercise, after having my daughter in 2010, and running was the route I chose. I had never been much of a runner in school, I loved to play sports, but running was never my thing. I'm not as dedicated to training as my husband, but I made a goal to run a half marathon in 2013...well, I did it! In May of 2013, I officially became a half marathon runner! I am not a fast runner by any means, but it was still an accomplishment to finish.

Running races is like a serious addiction, once you have done one, you look forward to entering another. After a handful of 5Ks and the first half marathon under my belt, I decided to enter another half marathon that would be held in the fall of 2013. I contemplated for the longest time on if I would challenge myself to run a full marathon, but in the end, I am glad that I only ran another half. It allowed me to really put my additional training to the test and try to learn from my mistakes the first time.
1. Pace yourself, don't start off to quickly and stick to a pace time.
2. Make sure the facilities are used prior to running so you don't waste minutes on end in line at the 3 mile marker Port-O-Pot.
3. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Practices to pay off, as I completed my 2nd, half marathon, 23 minutes faster than the first! I look forward to hopefully another race soon!

1st Half Marathon (May 2013)

2nd Half Marathon (November 2013)