A Sister's Kind words :)

Leigh's Testimonial:

I have been running for almost 15 years…running as exercise, for fun and to stay in shape. I ran in high school to train for the lacrosse team, in college to try to avoid the dreaded “freshman 15” (unfortunately, it didn’t work) and after college to try to maintain a healthy (though not ideal, in my eyes) weight. Through running and a strict diet, I lost weight for my wedding, even almost got down to my high school weight. Running was simply a form of exercise for me – in my opinion, it was the best aerobic activity, burning the most calories in the least amount of time. I never saw myself as a long distance runner and had no desire to become one. I was content in running a few miles at a time, several days a week at a not-too-hard, not-too-easy pace.

Then my sister, Lisa picked up running. She was dedicated. It meant something to her, more than just exercise. She even decided to run a marathon. A marathon! Are you crazy?!, I thought. I had a lot of respect for it, though. I knew what it took for me to run my 3 miles, sometimes even up to 6 miles, and I was so proud of that. But 26.2 miles?! I thought that was just crazy, impossible, and why would you even want to. But she did it, and she was proud. I was proud of her, too, in a she’s-crazy-kind-of-way.

At some point, we started doing casual runs together. It was fun and we became really close, closer than we have ever been. We became best friends through running. Then, at some point after that, she convinced me that I could run a half marathon. 13.1 miles?! I was very skeptical, but she created a 3-month training program for me and was confident I could do it. I still wasn’t convinced, but started the training regimen anyway. I still didn’t want to register for the race for fear that I’d just be wasting my money on the registration fee. But Lisa, patient and dedicated as she is, not only put up with my negative thinking, she motivated me into believing that I might actually be able to do it. I can remember my first long run with her – it was an 8.5 mile run, the longest I had ever run at one time, and she knew I could do it long before I knew it. Her passion and motivation were contagious. I started to think maybe this was possible. We were able to do most of our long training runs together and had plans to run the entire half marathon together – if I needed to stop and walk, she’d stop and walk; if she needed to stop and walk, I’d stop and walk. Crossing that finish line hand-in-hand was one of the proudest and most rewarding moments of my life. I had never, ever thought I’d be able to run that far before, nor did I even have the desire to.

Before long, though, I wanted to push my running limits even further – we had decided to run a marathon only 8 weeks later! Again, Lisa created an 8-week training schedule and also gave me tips for my diet. Logging that many miles per week required specific nutrition and she provided me with recipes and other advice for eating the right foods my body would need to make it through training and a 26.2 mile race. Finally, the day had arrived, a cold November morning in Philadelphia. Finishing that race was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I dedicated my finisher’s medal to Lisa. I was so proud of myself and what I’d accomplished, and I couldn’t have done it without Lisa’s encouragement.

Lisa’s perseverance, patience and passion for fitness and running were the reasons I was able to finish two races that I had never imagined I would have been running. Without her support and guidance, I’d never have even attempted running these distances. I now have an inner strength that I didn’t have before and I can’t wait to train for our next race together.

- Leigh