Meet The Opinionated Runner
Here it is, my first blog entry. My name is Stephanie and I am The Opinionated Runner. My intention for this blog is to share my opinions and reviews of everything related to running, fitness, and nutrition, and also sharing my thoughts on other topics that are important to me.
To start things off, I would like to share with you in little about myself.
I was adopted as a baby, for which I am so thankful. My family could be the poster child for an adoption success story. I have had so many amazing opportunities thanks to my parents.
As a child, I moved around quite a bit, living in three countries and three states (one of them three times) by age 10 . I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to see the world at such a young age, and traveling is still something that I’m passionate about today.
Once we were settled down, back in the US, my parents decided it was time to enroll me in gymnastics. I had been flipping on the furniture for years, and my little footprints were all over the walls. It became obvious, almost immediately, that I was already too advanced for recreational class. I was put on the team right away. I remained on that team until we made our final move. I found a new gym, which I ended up calling home for about the next 10 years (and I coach there to this day!). Gymnastics was my first love. It developed me into the person that I am today through the discipline, hard work, and heart that the sport requires. Unfortunately, my body gave out before my heart did, and I ended up ending my gymnastics career due to injuries that could not be solved any other way.
By this time in my life, I had missed out on so many school functions, and other things that the average teenage student participates in. I had always been envious that I could not be a cheerleader due to the time I spent with gymnastics, so this was the perfect opportunity to give that a try. I ended up cheering for my last two years of high school, and that led me to one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I had the privilege of cheering through my undergraduate studies in college. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Health and Human Performance.
Upon graduation, I was blessed to be offered a graduate assistantship with the athletic department. I spent the next two years earning my Master of Business Administration degree.
I had spent my entire life being busy with one sport or another, so when I was no longer cheering, I had to find something to do with my time. When I was younger I had participated in track and field, basketball, cycling, and dance (in all my “free” time). My first athletic dream (prior to realizing my ability to walk on my hands and love for being upside down) was to be an Olympic runner. My specialty was sprinting. So, with all of this free time on my hands, I decided to take up running again. However, this time I was working towards distance. I am always looking for a challenge, and for me, distance was it. I participated in my first 5K in the spring of 2011, as well as my first half marathon. I continued to participate in 5k’s, and ran my second half marathon in the fall of 2011. I have ran a full marathon every spring since 2012, and continue to participate in 5K’s, 10K’s, half marathons, and other various distances of running.
