One couldn't happen without the other, so I knew my first step involved getting myself out the door. My running shoes hadn't been used in nearly 10 years, but I dug them out of the back of my closet. When I put on running tights, I was so self-conscious about the jiggling that I prayed no one would see me.
When I hit points where I said to myself, I can't do this! I kept at it, walk-running three or four times a week. As I pushed through those tough moments, breathless and legs burning, I got better—by the third month, I could run 3 miles straight—and found myself pushing through challenges in the rest of my life, too. Within a year, I had dropped 25 pounds.
Gradually, I built up my mileage. Then, in 2012, I ran my first marathon for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation to help kids with cancer. That race changed my life, because I realized I could do anything I set my mind to. By the time I crossed the finish line, I had stopped daydreaming about going to graduate school and started making concrete plans.
It took 4 years, but now I'm 100 pounds lighter and a strong, healthy woman who's covered many miles. When I show my patients an old photo of myself, they can't believe it's me. Best of all, I'll graduate as an NP in December 2016.
