Who is Virginia Belle Running?

I am a thirty-something female who was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia.  I was transplanted to the beautiful state of Virginia in 2002 when my dear husband accepted a job here.  I love Virginia.  Its beautiful.  The only state with mountains, beaches, wineries, and farmland!  Virginia has some amazing horse farms and I love horses.  I secretly hope we get to stay here for a long long time.  I love my community and feel really at home here.  And let me not fail to mention, Washington DC is just north and it has some fine running clubs!  Oh, and did you know Virginia is for Lovers?

First off, I am a mom.  I adore my son.  I brought him home from the hospital just over three years ago.  The first year was rough.  Really rough.  Everything from my marriage to my sanity was tested by this sweet little guy.  But it was all worth it.  Every mom knows how trying it is, but how worth it, it is.  But I am also a wife, a friend, a runner, a writer, a humorist and one generally happy lady.

After my son turned one, I was pushing 200 pounds, pre-diabetic, smoking almost a pack of cigarettes a day and depressed.  Why was I so depressed?  I had everything in the world I had longed for, for so many years.  I had the husband I had dreamed of since I was a teenager.  I finally, after years of fertility treatments, the baby I had longed for.  Simple answer: I was unhealthy.  And fat.  And unhealthy.  I could not walk up a flight of stairs without becoming winded.  How sad is that?

I started out at the gym three to four times a week with another mom-buddy of mine.  It was my chance to be somewhere completely for myself.  I got to talk to adults and exert some serious energy.  After a few months, it really became a habit.  A good habit.  I felt great.  So my next goal was to quit smoking.  I stopped smoking on May 17, 2010.  I have had some slip ups due to stress because I conditioned myself to deal with stress by lighting up.  I have to find another way to deal with stress, although its very little these days.  I continued going to the gym but increased my workouts to six days a week.  It works for me.  I am not a health nut.  I don't eat grains regularly and I don't brush my teeth with twigs.  I'm not a tree-huggin, grain eating yogi, but I'm healthier.  And I am learning how to eat better and treat my body better.  There is always new and ever changing information.  I am finding what is right for me.  I am happy and confident and healthy in a size 8.  I threw my scale out the window.  When I started working out at the gym I was  a size 16.  As far as I'm concerned, I am half my size.  In September 2010, I ran my first 5k and absolutely fell in love with running.  Especially running races.  Its competitive enough for me.  I like to compete with myself, not others.  I found it was a perfect fit.  And I had a very close friend by my side who also fell in love with running.  We have the most fun finding unique and fun races in the metro area.  I will be running my tenth race very soon.  I guess it is sort of a milestone for me.  I have done 8 5k races and one 10k race.  I start training for my first half marathon in January.

I am not only a runner as I am not only a mother.  I am a wife to a good man.  I grew up without a strong example of a marriage and as a result I was very picky when dating.  I did not take marriage lightly.  I certainly went through many jackasses (my twenties were my donkey years) before I found my perfect match.  My husband and I enjoy good wine, good food, and good friends.  He likes to play golf and sail.  We are very mellow people, until it comes to the University of Georgia and the University of Kentucky facing off in any sport.  That gets ugly between us.

I hope you found some good information here as to who I am.  I love to write and they say write what you know.  I know my life.  I know me.  And I would love to get to know you, too.  Feel free to leave your comments.

Happy Running!

Mal