Who Inspires Me and Who I Aspire to Be

My athletic journey started at a young age. My parents encouraged me to try all sports, at a young age I started playing netball with my sister (like basketball but without moving my feet), and that grew into a wide range of sporting fields including floor hockey, cricket, volleyball, little athletics, basketball, tennis, golf, swimming and eventually cross country running. The thing about my past is that as soon as I reach a truly competitive level I tend to give up, or get overly self conscious and tell myself that I am unable to compete at such a high level.

My inspirations are my parents, my boyfriend and my good friend Winnie.

My parents inspire me on a whole different level. When I give up on myself, they are there to pick me back up and tell me to continue on. A few years ago I was on the road to self destruction, they noticed that I was eating myself to death, becoming obese, and they knew desperately that I needed help. They offered to come pick me up from University and take me to be back home with them. Under my parents guidance I was able to lose the weight that I gained by (at the time) "dragging" out for early morning walks with them, and learning to eat healthy. My parents were there for me, when I shut everyone else in the world out of my life. They have made me stronger and more determined then ever before, they helped me reorganize my life so that I could move on with it, and live my dreams.

My boyfriend Michael is my second inspiration. He is one of the most kind hearted and loving people that I have ever met. He encourages me with my crazy running goals, and trains with me to keep me on schedule. When I announced that I was going to run a marathon, he brought me a gym membership to "sponsor" me so that I could achieve my goals. He also travels with me to races to keep me company. He has not complained once, he gets up early with me on race day, and drives me to the location, and then continues to drive around to different points of the course, to cheer me on, and to keep me motivated to complete the runs. I don't know if I would have ever been able to complete my two marathons if it wasn't for him, as I had mini goals during the race to keep on going. He has never laughed at me when I mention my next goals, he has even signed up for his first marathon, so that we can train and race together. I hope that I can inspire him, like he has inspired me.

My third inspiration is Winnie. We first met while training for the Vancouver Half Marathon via Team in Training. While at first we didn't really get to know each other, we did soon afterwards by registering for the Disney Half Marathon and we travelled as a group. Winnie inspires me to train harder and be a better person. I aspire to be like her with my training and with my health. She has never given up, and she always reacts positively to whatever gets thrown at her. She is another reason why I finished the Nike Marathon. We ran together for the first half with Winnie running back to check on me, when she had got to far ahead. I feel guilty at the same time, because I am sure that she would have done a great time if she had of run on without me. Thank you Winnie :) I hope that one day I am half the person that you are!

I hope that I can inspire people to run. In the Summer I was lucky enough to be able to Mentor with Team in Training a group of people, to train for their first Marathon the Rock n Roll Seattle Marathon. I helped them with their fundraising goals, whilst training.  I hope that I was a positive influence on them. My goals for 2011 is to inspire more people to run and to also become a better person with my eating habits. And also to be more blogging more, I need people to kick my butt if they find that I am lagging behind in my training. I may not be the fastest runner, but in 2011 I will be the most dedicated runner!

I will be more dedicated in 2011 in my races. I am going to train harder and fiercer then I ever have before and hope that I inspire people along the way. My long term goal after I sort out my training, is to become a run coach, and hope to one day encourage young athletes to achieve their dreams. I also hope to branch out into other sports (as a very long term goal) at compete in triathlons. My first step into this, is that I have become a Volunteer with the 2011 Triathlon Series in Vancouver, and I hope that I can draw the courage to compete with them in the years to come.

I think that I would be a good ambassador for the Team 4all Roster, because I am dedicated and will always try my hardest, no matter what the situation. I hope 2011 allows me to transform myself from a "Lazy Athlete" to a hard working athlete.