Seattle Ironwoman

He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.  - Ralph Waldo Emerson I'm not someone who worries a lot. It takes a lot to stress me out. It takes even more to make me angry. In general, I'm a happy person. Maybe it's because I'm fairly selfish and always make sure I enjoy every day on my own terms. Maybe it's the endorphin's from daily runs or yoga. Still, I like to think it's my disposition, or the fact that I try to look at the positive side of life. However, in the last year or so I have spent a lot of time actively pushing myself towards things that scare me. It's very uncomfortable and unsettling to push towards those things. They're not easy but I figure, if I don't do things that cause me discomfort and fear, then I'm not growing. If I'm not both happy AND growing, then what's the point? I don't think my purpose is to just exist and happily float through life (which I co...

I never considered myself a runner despite being an athlete my whole life. After an ACL injury took me out of competitive sports in high school and I went through 9 months of physical therapy, I started running on treadmills to try to get back into shape. It makes me laugh now because you couldn't pay me to run on a treadmill. I was too afraid to run outside; I am by no means some incredibly graceful and natural looking runner. I didn't do cross country or track in high school... I don't look like the Nike ads - and that made me self-conscious. Little did I know the beauty of it all is that no one looks like that. Hit a trail any Saturday  or Sunday morning and it is filled with all kinds of people - old and young, skinny and heavier, graceful and clumsy; they all have something in common - they're trying! And they're all runners. I started dating Isaac when I was 20. A few months into our relationship, he made a simple statement - "running outside is h...