Me and My Running

Well Let me start by telling anyone who reads this blog a little about me and my running background. Hold on tight because this is a long one.
I was somewhat born into a running family. My Dad has been running for quite sometime now. He was a sprinter in college turned distance runner and again sprinter in his early 40's. He was and is a fast man both in sprints and in distance. My Dad is now 62 and is still running long distance today. My Mom got a later start on running she started when she was 31 but she was a quick little runner. I am still trying to beat her PR 5k time of 20:54. I am on my way. She is now 59 and still runs today. Both of my parents are my running hero's.
As a child I was exposed to the running world through road races and my Dads track meets. I have always loved to race. I was always up for a friendly race with anyone who who asked. I knew that someday I wanted to run track like my Dad. So my Freshman year of High School I first ran Cross Country and than ran Track. I missed making it to State that year because of the Flu and I was determined to make it the next year. The summer between my Freshman and Sophomore year of H.S. was a pivotal time in my running career. My Mom was sick of us sleeping in and so she woke me up and told me that we were going running, and from that point on besides when I was pregnant I have not missed a week of running. My Sophomore and Junior year of H.S. I did make it to State in the 100 and the 200. My Senior year we moved to AZ. I loved that they had finished tracks at each H.S. This was the year I made my move to the 400meters. I went to state in the 200, 400, and 4x100. We had an awesomely fast team. After H.S. I went to Mesa CC on Scholarship for the Heptathlon. I went to nationals fresh. and Soph. years in the 4x100, 4x400, and 4x800. I also qualified for the Heptathlon but chose not to do it. I didn't love the Heptathlon. For some reason though I went to Utah State on a small Scholarship for the Hep. That was the year I moved away from home, met my husband, and got out of shape because my new coach was trying a different approach with his athletes. It back fired on me. I got married at the end of my Junior year. My Senior year I gave up my tiny scholarship and told the coach I just wanted to sprint. I trained myself in summer to become faster and stronger and I came back fighting, and faster. Surprising my coach. He later admitted he should have kept me running.
After I graduated we left Utah State and moved to AZ. I started running longer distances. I was doing pretty good at the 5k and 10k races. I ran my fastest 10k at 45:42 and my fastest 5K at 21:20. Soon after I got majorly injured. I was running one day and both my knees started having sharp shooting pains. This side lined me for a little while. I kept running but it was always slow, tight, and uncomfortable. I saw many doctors, Chiros. ,PTs etc. No real answers.
I soon got pregnant and took time off of running. After delivering I started up again with alot of weight to lose and really slow running. I pretty much struggled with my running for 18 months until I got pregnant again and quit for a time. After my second delivery I started up again but I took a different approach and started as if I was a complete beginner. I responded well to this. But I still had the nagging tightness in my glutes, back, and hips. So my friend told me about this Physio Therapist she had been to. She told me he practiced something called ART (active release technique). I thought why not I will try it. I did go see him and this became another pivotal point in my running career. After 6 sessions with him the pain that I had felt for over 4 years was gone completely. All the other Doctors told me to stop running. The ART provider told me I need to live my life and run. I wasn't perfect or cured, but I was given hope that I could do what I loved...RUN!!!
I was still not fast like I was before and weighed about 20 lbs more than I wanted. Not because I thought I looked bad but because when trying to run fast it is nice to feel light. When my 2nd child was 2 yrs and 3 months I got pregnant with my 3rd and again I stopped running. I was gaining weight fast in my pregnancy and was told to slow it down. So I started writing down my eating for 3 weeks and when I went to see the Doctor I had dropped 11 lbs in 3 weeks. I only gained 6 back and gained only 24 lbs for my whole pregnancy. This means something because after I delivered my 3rd I quickly lost my baby weight and within 6 months I had dropped an extra 25 lbs. I was now down to my optimal running weight. I started my running program slow again and quickly built up to running 6-7 miles for my long run on Saturdays and 3.5-5 miles 2 other days in the week, with strength training on the side. I have done okay injury wise. I have felt tightness and discomfort but I have not had to take time off of running.
I am currently running 7:30-8:00 minute miles and I have started back at the track trying to improve my speed.
I will talk about my new running adventure on my next post.