By Guest Blogger Mo Goldman
Hi I’m Mo and I’m a pronator!
Actually, my old nickname in
elementary school was “slow Mo”. Growing
up I was never a fan of running. Maybe
it was because I grew up in the sweltering heat of Tucson, Arizona. Maybe it was because running always appeared
so boring and unappealing (apologies to the running community). Regardless of the reason, I really didn’t hit
my stride until January 2015. Since that
time I have taken off and haven’t looked back.
It was November 1, 2014 and I was
waking up from a night of binging on my kids’ Halloween candy. For Halloween I thought it would be funny to
be “Flo the Progressive Girl”, but instead I would be “Mo the Progressive
Girl”. Here is a pic:
On that day I looked at myself and
thought, “I’m one ugly lady!” Tipping
the scales at 215 lbs I had an epiphany and vowed to become more fit on that
day and experience a significant lifestyle change. Just turning 40 I realized I needed to be a better
example to my three kids. I was already
fortunate to be receiving some excellent personal training two days a week at
BodyBasics. I then began more intensive
aerobic workouts and a healthier eating regimen. By mid-January I had already dropped nearly
30 lbs.
January 17, 2015, I turned to my
wife and said “I’m going to try running” and I figured a nice motivator would
be to train for a marathon. So, just for
fun I entered the lottery for the 2015 New York City Marathon.
Then I went out to try and run a mile.
At the end of that run I was beyond winded. Exhausted.
I was tremendously sore the next morning. I questioned whether I could run for long
distances. A close friend suggested
reading Christopher McDougall’s book “Born to Run” and I found that to be
highly motivating. After reading this
book I decided not to stop but to take things slowly.
In March I found out that I was
selected to run in the NYC marathon. This
race will symbolically take place on November 1, 2015, which is the one-year
anniversary of my lifestyle change. Thus
far I have been able to run in the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon and
complete it in less than 2 hours. It was
an exhilarating experience.
I found out
about Tucson Runners Project through Doug Klein in June and it has been a great
way to learn about proper training, remain updated about running events in and
around Tucson, and meet some great people.
I look forward to continuing my running beyond the marathon and joining
TRP for early morning weekend runs and other gatherings.
I have now
lost nearly 60 lbs and it feels great! I
can run much longer distances and even maintain conversations while running. These are things I never could imagine doing
10 months ago. Most importantly, my
children have taken note of my health and it has had a positive impact:
