My story? My life was soccer growing up. I loved it and played daily so I had no need of doing anything else active. In training for each season we'd do A LOT of conditioning and even though I never really hated it because I knew it was necessary to perform my best, it wasn't my favorite either. I never thought I would be the type to enjoy running without a soccer ball in front of me. Ever since 9th grade I started running on my own here and there, especially in the off season, but it was always with the mind set of wanting to be in shape for soccer. Why would you just run for the fun of it? Little did I know.
So after graduating high school, I had the opportunity of playing for a school in California that recruited me. I didn't feel right about it and wanted to go to BYU. I was going to try out for the team and honestly felt like I was able to make it, however, I had two reasons for not trying out. 1. Even though I could make it, I don't think I would have got much playing time (at least not the first couple of years). and 2. I wanted to major in Athletic Training which if you do, you can't be on a sports team because of the time commitment. In the end I decided to stay really involved through playing soccer for fun with pick-up games, indoor leagues, and BYU intramurals. I stayed true to that and played as much as I could...but still something was missing.
My freshman year, my sister Amber, who was in her Senior year at BYU, wanted to run a 1/2 marathon in St. George. She wanted someone to do it with her and I volunteered. The half marathon was in January of 2003. We ran together often, but then Amber had a lot of other things that made it hard for her to keep training. I continued on my own and later my mom and other sister Tiffany, decided to also run it.
I trained hard and ran every day. I couldn't believe how much I loved it! It was so much more than a workout...it was my exodus, my out, my pondering time, my stress reliever and on and on. When I would miss a day, I felt like something huge was missing...that's when I knew I was hooked for life...
So here's my story and the rest is history...I'm a runner for life!
