Wednesday, April 29, 2015

We all need a coach to push us

I ran my first marathon in 2007, and it was a rather spontanious decision. At that time I was recovery from a long-term battle with anorexia and bulimia that had started when I was 13 years old. In the eating disorder recovery world running often gets a bad wrap, with many experts believing that individuals who struggle with these disorders are just doing it to lose weight, don't really love running, and highly discouraged me from doing so in some cases.

However, I choose to ignore the negative professional badgering because I found that running was not a part of my eating disorder and in fact helped me to learn how to respect and love my body. Since that time I have gained and lost weight due to post-hysterectomy side effects and POTS. Through it all I've come to appreciate my body more and I take care of my body. I am more intuitive then I have ever been in my life because I love running and I know there are many out there suffering from POTS who could never imagine being able to have the strength to run, and some who have difficulty with just normal everyday activities. I am happy to say that I am 100% recovered from the eating disordered mindset that I grappled with for years, and that running is a love that I am intuitvely drawn too.  I have discovered evidence that it is what I should do to preserve my health while living with dysautonomia.

Because my struggles with health in the past, speed and hydration have been difficult, but I want to testify that my investment into hiring a running coach is not just benificial to running. I believe has helped me save thousands of medical bills now and in the future. The side benefit I'm experiencing is that my strength and speed are now sky rocketing after 18-months of personal online-coaching with world-class ultra runner and coach Lisa Smith-Batchen. Her record speaks for itself,she has lead many ultra-runners into elite status, and has a remarkable personal running resume.  

In 2015, 8-years since my first marathon and ultramarathon, I have lost count of my finishes. I'm healthier physically, mentally, and spiritually then I ever have been in my life. My body is doing incredible things again with running, and my weight is dropping naturally without dieting and just being intuitive. I want to lose weight to improve my speed, but it is not the focus of my training. I love my body where it is at, and have accepted that I will train and be intuitive, and if it wants ton drops weight it will. And surprisingly, not focusing on my weight is the most succesdful thing I've done because the excess weight is coming off.

I highly recommend hiring a coach to push your running and health levels to new level. I am looking forward to a bright future of running accomplishments that are beyond what I thought I was capible of.



1 comment:

  1. I had a long comment to post and then I accidentally deleted it!

    I can relate! I dealt with drug abuse and body image issues caused by sexual abuse. Learning to love and respect yourself is quite a feat! I am glad you found a passuon in running! I look forward to completing the Y to T ultra with you!

    ReplyDelete