I have worked hard and have proven to myself that if I want something enough, and train hard enough I can accomplish what I set my mind to. I wanted to run a marathon in 2012 and I did. I wanted to beat my first marathon time (which was an awful time of 5:44:05). So in 2013 I ran my 2nd CIM with a time of 4:18:16, and I ran my marathon PR at the CIM last year with a time of 3:53:47. In a span of 2 years I cut my time by almost 2 hours. And this year I plan on running the CIM and qualifying for Boston.
Running will always have a special place in my heart. I think it will always be my favorite form of movement. It has opened up a new world to me, I’ve experienced so many things and have met great people. It even changed my career path. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love to do other things.
When I started running I did get those comments I am sure many runners have heard, “you will ruin your knees”, “running is bad for your heart”, “you will eventually get injured”, “you won’t be able to walk when you’re old”. Yep. I heard all of those things. But that didn’t stop me. You see, I am not stupid. Sure, I have made some mistakes in my training along the way but I have learned from my mistakes and I take care of my body. Recovery is just as important as training. Recovery is a HUGE part of training.
All of this brings me to something I have recently discovered I love doing. Powerlifting. I have always enjoyed being active. There really isn’t anything I don’t like doing (except dance classes. Zumba and things like that. No thanks). Back in March I started going to a class called Iron Grrls. I had been wanting to start lifting for quite some time but I couldn’t find a place that didn’t just throw me into the mix. I wanted to learn, understand what was doing and why. I was super happy to have found this amazing group of women and such a knowledgable trainer.
Here I am at my first Iron Grrls clinic. My first time really learning about a deadlift.
I am not sure what my weight is here. Looks to be around 105lbs or so. I know I got to 135 that day and our trainer had me stop there. I knew, and she knew I could do more but since it was my first time she called it. Which I appreciate. We had just met, she didn’t know me. You have to get to know someone first before testing their limits.
Here we are at the gym I work for, Kaia FIT Sunrise working on our technique.
Training at Kaia & with the ladies at Iron Grrls has been a great experience. I love to challenge myself and I want to try everything! Lately I have been getting over my fear of being upside down and falling on my head. I pretty much like to do handstands all over the place now.
What I love about training with Allyson is that she is always educating us during our workout. She wants us to know what the hell we are doing. And god damn, there is a lot to learn, but I love soaking it all in. Often she will say, “if you ever want to compete” or “you never know, you may compete someday”…which got me thinking (and the reason I am writing this post) what if I competed in powerlifting? Fuck yeah.
I think I really got excited about this idea a few weeks ago when we were working on my deadlift max. My current PR is 175lbs. I’m not gonna lie, I felt pretty bad ass this day as I lifted more than I ever had and I had my trainer and the girls in my class cheering me on. That is when I knew I wanted to compete.
It was like the day I knew I wanted to run a marathon. I had this feeling…like, I just know I have to do this. And I am going to do this. I am lucky to have a supportive group of peeps around me that encourage me to do these crazy things. But as with running I have already met some resistance with people. So lets get a few things straight:
No I am NOT bodybuilding. Cool if that is your thing. It isn’t mine. I’m a little surprised at how many people think powerlifting is synonymous with bodybuilding.
No I don’t plan on “running like I do” while training to compete. Not even sure what that question was supposed to mean, but I’ll just take it as I am a bad ass runner too.
Yes I am going to lift and run. So keep telling me it isn’t good for me, because I am going to show you you’re wrong. That doesn’t mean I am in full out marathon training mode and powerlifting mode. I will be focusing on one more than the other but I will continue to do both.
I had a friend that was an amazing runner. I remember a group of us talking about what we do other than running to train. Their answer, “I run, I don’t have time for anything else. To be a better runner you have to run”. I never agreed with that. While, this person is a bad ass runner the idea that to be a better runner you don’t need to do anything else is completely false. There has to be a balance. You need to incorporate other types of movement to strengthen your body. If you don’t that is when you break down. Often that is the kind of runner people tend to think of when you tell them you run. Someone who just runs and runs and is injured all the time.
Yeah I love running, but lets be honest, I’d get burnt out if that is all I did. I mean, come on – there is so much fun stuff you can do! 
So blog friends – you heard it here. Me, a runner, is going to also be a powerlifter. I am way excited about this…but first I am going to focus on my next big race. The CIM. In case you didn’t know, I am going to qualify for Boston this year.
