I’ve always had an interest in exercise, but had become pretty lazy and sedentary. I really felt like for the first time in my life, I had let myself go. When I found out that I was pregnant, I began walking and trying to eat a plant based, whole foods diet. I made some good progress, shedding the couch potato pounds I’d seemed to have put on. Because I was so dedicated to becoming healthy again, I didn’t gain much weight while pregnant. As I was losing fat, I was gaining “baby”, so it seemed to have evened out. About 2 months after having my son, I was introduced to Fit4Mom by another brand new first time mom. That’s where everything began to change and I blossomed, not only in my fitness but in motherhood as well. I started going to Stroller Strides in February 2016 and instantly found where I knew I needed to be. The other moms were so wonderful and many of them were, like me, first time mothers with babies around the same age, who were finding their way. I noticed my weight loss continuing to progress and I even started to see muscle definition.

In September, 2016, Lori started run club. I knew she had a passion for running, which was something I very much admired about her. I never liked running, in fact the words “I don’t run” often came out of my mouth, but for some reason I showed up to run club that very first day. I had no idea what to expect or if I’d ever go back. She instructed us to run 10 minutes, no matter how fast, no matter how far, just run 10 minutes. It was THE LONGEST, hardest 10 minutes of my life. I hated it and I watched the timer on my phone as each second ticked by. When I reached the end, I felt like I was going to pee my pants….and I just may have a little. I remember saying to another mom, who had been training for her first marathon how GREAT I felt, how accomplished I felt! This must be what that “runners high” feels like! We did a little workout when we all got to the same spot and then walked back to where we began (thank goodness!). The next week, she had us do the same thing and again, it was tough, I might have wet my pants a little, but I felt so accomplished! I noticed that I wasn’t the slowest, but I wasn’t the fastest and I was going at a pace that felt comfortable for me. Lori coached us on different aspects of running each week. Breathing was one thing that I struggled with but with her help, I overcame. The more I ran, I began to see a total transformation of my body. The combination of strength training at Stroller Strides and running helped me become lean with the most muscle definition I’d ever had. I now run 3 to 5 miles several days a week, with the occasional 10+ mile run on the weekend and mostly all of my miles are done while pushing the stroller! I no longer say “I don’t run”. Thanks to Lori I actually love to run now!