Six weeks after my second baby was born, I found out that all five feet of me weighed almost 170 pounds. I joined Weight Watchers and started walking to lose weight. Six months after joining WW, I had reached my goal weight of 125 pounds. A year later, without really trying, I had also become a runner and lost another 15 pounds.

I ran my first 5k on December 1, 2007, my first 10k two weeks later, and my first half marathon on February 17 of the following year.

My home team is extremely supportive. My husband, G, was a fairly competitive tennis player before an MS diagnosis; he has difficulty seeing the ball well now. He still plays, but not to his pre-MS level. He is a project manager for a large utility company, and I have become a stay-at-home mother to our two children. Our daughter, S, is a gentle lamb. She was born in October of 2003. Our son, B, the funny monkey, is much more active than his older sister, and was born by repeat c-section in November 2005. Both of their names have been concealed to protect them, though they are far from not guilty.

Today, I define myself as a teacher, wife, mother, runner, and Christ follower. My goal is to prepare for and run my own race as wisely and as well as I can, with the goal of hearing, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, 23).