I guess I will start with a little background about myself and lead in to why I think this has been a great journey the past fifteen months.
I had been living in CT for 3 years right out of college. I had a great job doing what I went to school for. I made a good group of friends in CT and had all my close college friends and many high school friends nearby. My family (most) was a short drive away and I was lucky to have my aunt only ten minutes away.
Don't get me wrong, I was very happy there, but at the same time...I was ready for a change! One of my best friends from college and one of best friends from high school had both decided to move out to Denver within a few months of each other. I had an uncle in the area, and had visited with one friend when she was deciding to move out here. It also helped that this cute boy had been texting me every so often that lived in Denver :-)
So eventually the question became: Why not??
Fast forward 15 months - I went from not being able to running a mile when I moved here to running as much as seven and eight miles. I started out slow and found time during the day at work to go to the gym. I was consistently running 3 or 4 miles - 4 times a week. It was hard, but at the same time, I really enjoyed it. I did a few races and eventually worked up to my first 10k! I was really enjoying running (even if I was still very slow)! I have probably lost around 30 pounds since moving here. I am lucky to have my friend Jen from college here, who turned me on to running. She runs much more and much faster, but she can be pretty persuasive! I am also lucky to have my great friend Kelsey here, from high school, along with a handful of other Saratoga graduates. It is really nice to see familiar faces :-) When I first moved here, I didn't start work for six weeks so Kelsey and I made the most of that fall for many hikes and adventures! My aunt/uncle/cousin live close by so I enjoy having my family around! And that cute boy that was texting me....we have been dating for over a year! I owe so much of my enjoyment for all things active, to him. We started hiking together, which he was already much more experienced than I - but I really came to enjoy it. I even did my first 14er last summer! Mt. Elbert was a beast, but I'm ready for another.
This is sort of a long synopsis and I am leaving out A LOT over the past 15 months - but basically, I am loving my move to Denver and am ready for my next adventure!
Unfortunately my ankle started bothering me around the time of my 10K. I hoped that decreasing my mileage might help - but finally I realized I had to just go to the doctor. I am seeing a specialist on Monday - but my regular doctor was 90% sure I had a fibular stress fracture. NO high impact activities for 6 weeks minimum. I was distraught! I had to turn to the elliptical and bike to make sure I still stayed active. Then enters my other friend Jen, who just moved here from Hartford. In passing she mentioned she was thinking about signing up for a Sprint Triathlon in July. Surprisingly - I was very interested. I was already biking and hoped eventually I would be back to running. That just left - swimming. I was thinking - with a bum ankle, swimming would be a great way to stay active and let my ankle heal. I've never swam competitively or had any lessons - but did grow up every summer swimming nearly every day at the country club pool. So, after some research, and support from the bf - I decided it to give it a whirl!
There is my background :-)
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