Featured Runner Friday: Meet Mindy

Every runner has a story. At Sexy Mother Runner, we believe that sharing those stories is great way to share the gift of running while helping to motivate others. 

Meet Mindy. 

She has made and met goals, inspired others, and set an excellent example for her family in the short time that she has been running. I look forward to watching her and being inspired as she meets her upcoming goals. 

Hi, my name is Mindy Daum. My running story started earlier than I realized. I thought my running story began the day I started running. But as I was thinking about the order of events I realized that it began about a year or so before my first day of running.

I am a wife, mother, nail tech, school bus driver and more. Due to my jobs and lack of motivation I had a very sedentary lifestyle. My husband, Aaron, is an over the road truck driver. When we got married I was over weight but I really started putting on weight after we had kids. I became a stay at home mom for a few years after my youngest was born. I was depressed, lonely, lazy, unmotivated and just kept eating. We have two wonderful daughters, Sarah(16) and Shelby(12). When my youngest was 2 ½ I got a job as a school bus driver so I could take her with me and still be mostly a stay at home mom. Unfortunately, I was still depressed. My husband was gone 75% of the time due to work and I had no good reason to be motivated to take care of myself(or at least that is what I felt like). I tried medicine for depression and it didn’t work, mainly because I would forget to take it. I decided about 4-5 years ago to go back to school to make something of myself. I decided a 4 year degree would take me 8+ years going part-time and I wasn’t up for that. After much thought, I decided to go to school to be a nail tech (5 month program). I needed something that kept me active and out of bed all day, especially since both of my kids were in school fulltime. I finished school and was able to keep my job driving a school bus. I got a job at a shop I love and love what I do.

I still felt depressed and unmotivated to take care of myself. I had tried a few weight loss challenges with friends and lost 20-40 lbs but when I was done I would put it back on. A few friends of mine at the bus job wanted to try using a personal training as a group the summer of 2011. So I joined them and I kind of liked it. Most of all I like the running part, totally a surprise to me.

Our trainer was Gavin Sullivan at Pearce Community Center in our hometown. He was very motivating and pushed us to do our best. One day during our workout I was struggling and frustrated! He said, “You have an F-U look on your face today.” I said, “No I have an F me look on my face today because I have let myself get into this shape.” I have to say that was one of the pivotal points in my life in regards to my health and fitness. I admitted I had done this to myself and had no one else to blame for this and no one else could change it, except me!

I come from a family that tends to be overweight and besides my brother, has a dislike of exercise. My father had a gastric bypass in April 2008. Due to his surgery, change of eating and adding some regular exercise, he lost half of himself. His weight has gone up and down 10-20 lbs, but he has some health issues that play a part of his weight fluctuation. My sister had Lap-Band surgery in April 2009. Due to her surgery, change of eating and consistently working out she has lost and kept off 90 lbs. My mom had gastric bypass in August of 2011. She is close to her goal weight and has also made a significant decrease in the amounts of medicine she has to take due to other health issues. I also have an Aunt that had gastric bypass surgery several years before my dad had his.

You are probably wondering where I am going with this. I have a significant amount of weight to lose. I don’t tell too many people my actual weight but by looking at me I am sure it wouldn’t be hard to guess that I have a large amount of weight to lose. The day I started running, I weighed 343.6 lbs. Due to the fact that my insurance will not cover weight loss surgery nor will they cover any complications due to the surgery, I am not eligible to get it. But even more so, I don’t feel that the surgery would be right for me. I am not sure that I would be successful with the drastic eating changes that would be required of me if I had the surgery.

When my mom had her surgery she had some complications. It was very hard to see her and my dad go through what they went through. I would say it was the other pivotal point in my life in regards to my health and fitness. I knew if I didn’t make some significant changes that I wouldn’t be here with my family to enjoy all of the wonderful milestones in life.

In the past, when I would make a change in regards to diet and exercise, I would jump in feet first and make drastic changes and then I would not be able to keep up with them. I didn’t want to do it the same way this time. I really WANTED to succeed! Like I said earlier, my mom had her surgery in August of 2011 and I turned 39 in September of 2011. I thought about what I could do to make the necessary changes to lose the weight and get healthy. I decided I would try running since that was my favorite part of the personal training. I had set a goal to run a 5K before I turned 40 on 9-7-2012. So on September 25, 2011 I started the Couch to 5K 9 week running program. I thought my running story started on 9-25-11, but I was wrong. Here are some events that helped shape my journey.

Important Dates:

9-21-10 Bought first pair of running shoes from my new favorite store-Running Central! The sad thing is they sat in my closet for at least 3 months before I decided to wear them on a daily basis since I hadn’t started running yet! I also wore them for my personal training.

5-28-11 Did the Chillicothe River Run 1 mile walk with my oldest daughter, Sarah. We walked 1 mile in18:02. We ran a few times for 30 seconds or so.

9-25-11 Started C25K 9 week running program. I did most of the program on the treadmill for the first 5-6 weeks, then started to run outside some. Now I prefer to run outside.

11-16-11 First time running with a women’s running group called the Sole Sisters. I owe a special thanks to Diane Tuttle who encouraged me to go. I got home, called my husband on the road and said “I had so much fun!” I had a sick to my stomach feeling when I thought about running with other people. I thought what will these experience runners think of me. They took me in, encouraged me and made me feel like I could accomplish anything. That was the day I realized that when I get that feeling in my stomach to say yes right away before I have a chance to talk myself out of it. To this day I haven’t regretted saying yes to any new challenges. I have learned so much about myself when I step out of my comfort zone.

11-26-11 Ended C25K program with the River Trail Classic 2 mile fun walk/run with most of my family and a few friends. My brother, Michael, stayed with and encouraged me the entire run. I ran/walked a total of 2.21miles in 36:53(16:41 pace).

River Trail Classic Group Photo

12-14-11 Started the FAST(Fun and Smart Training) running program held at Running Central. My friend Diane Tuttle asked me to go check out the program meeting with her. Unfortunately due to an injury she was unable to do the winter 2011 program. When I was at the meeting I got that sick feeling in my stomach. So I wrote the check out for the program right away before I had a chance to change my mind. It was a great individualized program that helped me tremendously. It is a 12 week program where we received a once a week run night with 2 experienced running coaches, individual training programs and endless answers to newbie running questions. I ran my first timed mile in 16:47 the first night. The last night on 2/29/12 I ran a 5K in 50:50 without stopping. Coach Maggie finished the last half of the run with me and Coach Brad was at the end cheering me in with a fellow FASTie. That was the furthest I had ran without stopping. Woop Woop, I ran my first 5K befor I turned 40!

Mid Jan-2012 Cut out my breakfast and lunch visits to the fast food chains. I told my husband that with what I wasn’t spending on breakfast, I could buy myself a new pair of running shoes each month. He said, “Are you going to?” I said no but it will help pay for my race entry fees and running equipment.

2-22-12 Quit smoking! Still not smoking! My goal was to quit before my first race. I was somewhat of a closet smoker.

2-26-12 Chili Chase 4 mile Run in the Quad Cities with my friend Denise and her grandson Dustin. It was a horrible run but I learned so much that day. I learned that every run is not perfect and also learned how to prepare better the morning of a run. I couldn’t run more that 1.5 miles of the 4 mile(1 hr, 12 min = 18:13 pace) race due to poor preparation. Although it was a horrible running experience, it was the best learning experience.

2-27-12 Started writing my blog runningreallywhatwasithinking.blogspot.com. My husband encouraged me to have a blog since I liked reading them so much.

3-4-12 Ran/walked 6 miles. My husband joined me for part of it. It was a great way to celebrate our 17^th Anniversary. Another goal I set was to get my family involved with my running. My hubby decided to start running with me so we could get ready to go run a Disney 5K together. We haven’t

set a date yet but we keep working on getting ready. You have to stay under a 16 min pace at Disney or you have to get off the course, so we will be super ready before we go! I ain’t letting Goofy pull me off the course. LOL!

3-31-12 Volunteer to pass out water at a local half marathon. I had said that I didn’t ever want to do a half or full marathon. After helping at this event, I thought well maybe a half wouldn’t be so bad. In fact, as I was typing my story, I spoke with my sister about her and I running in the Vegas half at some point in our life. I think we could do it. Another way for the Hubby and me to do some traveling due to running!

4-1-12 Jelly Bean Virtual 5K hosted by runwithjess.com blog. My GPS said I did a total of 2.95 miles in 49:33(16:47 pace). One of my friends slowed her pace down and ran this race with me. Thanks

Laura Youngman.

4-3-12 Started Building Steam 11 week training program to get you ready for the 4 mile Steamboat Race on 6-16-12. Some friends and old school class mates are also doing this program.

5-12-12 Fat Ass 5K in Springfield IL. I ran this race in 50:50, same time as my FAST 5K. But it was 25 degrees hotter and I had crowds to try to get around. I was very glad I did this race. A few of my

fellow Sole Sisters, Renee and Melissa, ran the race with their spouses. They also waited to go to the after party to finish the race with me. It was such a great feeling to finish the race and have amazing people finish it with me. The race is one that has food to eat along the route. Due to my desire to not get sick, I waited to eat until the after party. Shelby wanted me to bring her ice cream back by but I figured it would be melted by the time I got back so I brought them a few corndogs. The best part is that Aaron, Sarah and Shelby were there to cheer me on. We had a great time.

The Passing of the Corndogs

5-26-12 Chillicothe River Run 5K. I ran this race without stopping in 49:03(15:49 pace). Yep I PR’d! So super excited. My youngest daughter ran this race with me but ran it at her pace. She finished the

race in a little over 36 minutes. When I got to almost the end, I was joined by my daughter Shelby, friends Cresta, Amy and Anna. Again, it was so great finishing the race with some amazing people.

Events I am looking forward to:

6/16/12-4 mile Steamboat Classic Run

6/30/12-Dirty Girl Mud Run 5K Obstacle

9/23/12-Quad Cities Marathon 5 person relay

I have made some healthy changes and set some attainable goals. One of my goals is to run a race with the girls each year. They get to pick the race. Shelby already ran one with me and I can’t wait to run one with Sarah. It is such a great feeling to do stuff I never thought possible and never thought I would care about. One of the things I have really enjoyed is helping others by encouraging them with their journey. I had so many wonderful people help me; I want to be able to help others in return. Another thing I have enjoyed is trying new things. I tried doing a trail run, but decided that as for now running a wooded trail is not for me, but hiking a trail is something I would like to do more. My husband and I also tried track/speed work and I really enjoyed it. I avoided the track in school and now I want to conquer it.

At this time I weigh in at 314.6 and have had a 29 lb weight loss. It is slow going and I would like to incorporate healthier eating to help with my weight loss. I purchased a book called Nancy Clark’s Food Guide for New Runners. My goal is to read it this summer and put some or all of it into practice. I have also decided that as for now I need to stay in some sort of running program to keep structured with my running and need to keep registering for running events to keep me motivated. Not to sound like I am winning an award at the Oscar’s, but I have so many people to thank for helping me along the way. Most of all I want to thank my husband and girls for the wonderful support and encouragement they have given me along the way! I AM A RUNNER! Yeah!

         

Mindy on 5/28/2011 with her daughter, Sarah

Mindy, 29lbs lighter, on 5/26/2012 with her daughter, Shelby

If you are interested in being a Featured Runner, contact us at sexymotherrunner@yahoo.com!