Sexy Mother Runner: Sexy Mother Runner Featured Runner Friday: Meet Jane

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 Jane!

Jane is an active lady! She swims, rows, runs, and walks her cute puppies each day! She has even completed the Ragnar Relay series and has been one of the team member for two triathlons. She is an inspiration to all of us!

Meet Jane:

Do you remember your elementary and middle school PE class, when it was time to choose teams and there were always 3 or 4 kids that that no one wanted and the teacher had to say “You 2 on this team and you 2 on that team”? That was ME (and deservedly so!) I really stunk at sports. I attempted one pitiful season on the high school tennis team and thereafter stuck to the Science & Math Club.

I attempted exercise a few times in my life; the occasional aerobics class, the stair climber, a Nordic track. I didn’t start running until I was 34. My sister-in-law had started running and lost a lot of weight. I had 2 preschool aged boys and still had baby weight to lose so I thought I would try running, too. My plan was to run as far as I could in my neighborhood, walk when I had to, and then run some more until I could build up my endurance. I remember running to the end of my street before I had to stop. I came home so excited and bragged to my husband how far I had made it. I drove to the end of the street to see how far I’d gone and it was .3 miles. I think I was excited by that distance at the time but I look back on it now and think “Really?” I kept working at it and ran my first 5K just before my 35^th birthday.

Living in Ohio at the time, there weren’t a lot of options for exercising outdoors. I would run at 5 a.m., sometimes outdoors and sometimes on a treadmill, before getting the kids up for school and heading to work. I would go to the gym for spin class on my days off. Some gym friends got me interested in a Half Marathon. I watched MANY episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 on Saturday mornings while logging long training runs on the treadmill! I completed the Half in 2 hours and 10 minutes. I’ve not done another but it is still a goal of mine to finish one in less than 2 hours.

Six years ago my husband and I decided to make a big move to the west coast of Florida. I can’t begin to tell you how my life has changed! It is a rural part of Florida. We have no beaches but we have 7 rivers in our county. My husband and I have always been boaters and had owned kayaks up in Ohio, so kayaking in Florida was imminent. (Plus, we have the largest herd of manatees in the winter and the BEST way to see manatees is by kayak!) I had also tried rowing in Ohio. I met a Cub Scout dad at a campout and he was trying to get a Masters Rowing Club started. I’m a charter member. That was 5 years ago. My friends wonder why I would choose to get up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Once you see a sunrise on the lake and the water is like glass and all you hear is the gentle “swish” of the oars on the water, I ask “Why WOULDN’T I want to get up to enjoy that on a Saturday morning?” There is also a 46 mile paved bike trail that runs through our county. It is a tremendous asset and I use it frequently for biking, roller blading and running.

Shortly after we moved to Florida I became friends with a woman at the gym. Rachel shared my passion for fitness. She has become an awesome workout partner. A couple of years ago Rachel began training for a triathlon. She had a training schedule to follow so I just did whatever she did. I thought I might attempt the triathlon myself if I could master the swimming. I found that I can swim to save my life but not much more than that! At first I stuck with swimming because I thought I would eventually get better. I haven’t. Now I swim because I am so horribly inefficient at it that I burn a TON of calories. I have competed in a modified triathlon, the Ozello Adventure Race, that swaps kayaking for swimming. This spring, Rachel and I and another friend participated in a triathlon as a team. My goal was to complete the 3 mile run in less than 27 minutes; I did it in 26:41. We are doing another one in September and I hope to have that time below 26 minutes. Rachel also invited me to join a group of women who play tennis.

Two years ago a runner friend of mine introduced me to Ragnar Relay, a 200 mile relay race. He had done it once before and was trying to put together a 12 person relay team for the Central Florida race. I didn’t hesitate. My 16 year old son is a “joiner” like his mother so he, too, signed on. It took 35 hours, we ran all day and night (and day!) and it was a blast. This year we ran the Ragnar Florida Keys race from Miami to Key West and we are planning to run it again in January 2013. My two teenage sons run cross country and track and I’d like to think I might have inspired them just a little…or at least set a good example.

I like to say I am the “Jack of all trades, master of none”. Because of the awesome weather and amenities here in Florida, I roller blade, bike, swim, row, kayak, play tennis and run. I love it all. I try to do some type of exercise every day. The days when I don’t feel like doing anything (we all have them!) I don’t allow myself to get out of bed until I have a plan for a workout and then I immediately put on my workout clothes when I get up. I love the days when I feel like I just don’t have the energy to run and I tell myself if I even make it a mile, at least I’ve done something. More often than not I end up running 3 or 4 miles and feel totally energized when I’m finished. I NEVER regret working out when I didn’t feel like it, but I often regret NOT working out when I didn’t feel like it!