“Running Helped Me Bond with My Daughter”

My name is Ninette, I am 42 years old, married to my cheerful husband and have 2 daughters. One is 15 years old and the other is 10 years old. I have been a licensed massage therapist for nearly 15 years.

Before I started running, I just wanted to get in “shape,” not necessarily lose weight. My weight was fine; I was just out of shape. I couldn’t even go up a flight of stairs without getting winded. I knew I was out of shape and in need of change. That’s when I found running. Running not only helped me cardiovascularly, it also helped me bond with my daughter since it was something we now had in common. That is priceless.

So how did my daughter help me? She missed a cross country meet and, as a consequence, I made her run a local race. I signed her up for a 10K race and she was pretty angry with me. But, I told her this was to teach her the importance of being a part of a team and showing up to your meets. I even told her I would keep her company and run a 5K that same day – she didn’t believe me.

When we got to the downtown square to the race start, I could feel the positive and vibrant energy already at 7 o’clock in the morning! Well, I ran the entire 5K but my knees were killing me. I went to the chiropractor afterwards and told him that I ran a 5K off the couch (literally!) and I think I hurt my knees. He said that I didn’t have bad knees, but just weak legs that needed to be strengthened. After that, I started running again slowly by just running down my street. Later I ran down 2 streets. It was a very slow but steady pace until one day I reached 2 miles!

My daughter told me about the Runtastic app and I started using it. It was very motivating to have someone tell me my distance and pace. After I got comfortable running, I realized how therapeutic running was for my soul. For the first time in my life, I had a hobby that was healthy, felt amazing, built my confidence, and I could do it alone. It was such a free and liberating feeling! I cannot even begin to explain how much running has helped my inner wellness and spiritual connection.

As I mentioned before, my goal was simply to get fit. And, I have actually put on 4 lb since running and I know it’s muscle – which I am very proud of. I feel very healthy and strong for the first time in my life. Years prior I “thought” I was strong and healthy, but just because I was slender did not equal being healthy, fit and strong.

I have only been running 15 months, but I have run a total of 11 races and have placed in 8 of them! I am currently running about 30 miles a week. Usually, I run 3-8 miles during the week and at least 10 on the weekend (if I am not training). Next to running, I cross train with barre classes to keep my body strong!

I ran my first marathon on November 12 in Nashville and placed 1st in my age group. Additionally, I qualified for the Boston Marathon. I ran a 3:41:45 thanks to training with Runtastic’s “How to run a marathon in 3.5 hours.” It works! I loved it! I am currently thinking about registering for the Chicago Marathon. Thank you for the opportunity to share my story with you!!

Do you have a story like Ninette’s that you would like to share with our community? It’s so motivating to have stories from you all – feel free to send yours to mysuccess@runtastic.com.

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