Hi, my name is Abby and I'm addicted to running. Now that we've got that out there... :)
I grew up in Syracuse, NY and have lived in NYC on and off for 6 years. When I was in 7th grade, a few of my best friends and I ran Cross Country. It turned out that I was naturally pretty good at running, and I loved it. At the beginning of 8th grade, my friends decided to join the swim team (I probably would have drowned, and hate(d) cold water) so I signed up for Cross Country again. After a few days of practice with a new coach and without my friends, I told my coach that I felt like I was going to throw up after ever run, and quit the team. Duh, I was just out of shape (I think I secretly knew that, but didn't tell anyone else that that was the reason) and was sad that my friends weren't there anymore. That was the end of my Cross Country career. I missed the bus rides to Invitationals on the weekends and the feeling of placing for my team, but friends are really important during thoseterrible awkward teen years.
I didn't run again for many years. After college, I found myself working and living here(!)
I probably never ran more than two miles, but am not sure because I definitely didn't have anything fancy like a Garmin at this point. In the summer of 2009, my boyfriend (a different guy than the one mentioned above, thankfully!) and I rented a car in NJ, which meant we had to return it to NJ. It was a hot beautiful day, and he suggested that after we returned the car, we'd take the PATH train back to NYC and run from Battery City to his apartment on the UWS. Which is 7 miles. I hadn't run 7 miles since 7th grade. And I was a lot older and a lot less fit now. But for some crazy reason, I agreed. It was horrible not fun. I was definitely not in shape to run this far and wasn't in the mood to push myself. I walked, a lot, I wanted to cry, and wanted to kill him by the end of the run. Somehow, we're still together, and even though I couldn't walk the next day, I was hooked again. And by hooked, I mean obsessed with running.
When I registered for the NYC Half, I put 2:15 as my projected finish time. I ended up finishing in 1:57:47! This only furthered my obsession with running, because I knew I could push myself harder to get a PR at my next half. Since then, I've run several other half marathons, dozens of shorter races and the Philadelphia Marathon in 2012!
I am so honored to run for the Oiselle Team, which is full of amazing, fast and smart women!
I grew up in Syracuse, NY and have lived in NYC on and off for 6 years. When I was in 7th grade, a few of my best friends and I ran Cross Country. It turned out that I was naturally pretty good at running, and I loved it. At the beginning of 8th grade, my friends decided to join the swim team (I probably would have drowned, and hate(d) cold water) so I signed up for Cross Country again. After a few days of practice with a new coach and without my friends, I told my coach that I felt like I was going to throw up after ever run, and quit the team. Duh, I was just out of shape (I think I secretly knew that, but didn't tell anyone else that that was the reason) and was sad that my friends weren't there anymore. That was the end of my Cross Country career. I missed the bus rides to Invitationals on the weekends and the feeling of placing for my team, but friends are really important during those
I didn't run again for many years. After college, I found myself working and living here(!)
with a boyfriend that I was mad at for most of our relationship, so I got back into running to clear my head and get un-mad at him several days a week. He also encouraged me to run to lose some weight. I was 120 and 5'7". We're no longer together. Yay!
A year later, I decided that paradise on the beach was a little too perfect for me, and I missed the East
coast, so moved here
and began running here:
I probably never ran more than two miles, but am not sure because I definitely didn't have anything fancy like a Garmin at this point. In the summer of 2009, my boyfriend (a different guy than the one mentioned above, thankfully!) and I rented a car in NJ, which meant we had to return it to NJ. It was a
Within a few months, we were training for our first half marathon, the 2010 NYC Half. I didn't get in through the lottery, but wanted to run so badly (even though I had really not liked running very much just a few months earlier...) that I raised $1,000 so I could run as part of the American Cancer Society team. So quickly, running had become one of my passions and I found myself arranging my entire weekend schedule around a long run.
When I registered for the NYC Half, I put 2:15 as my projected finish time. I ended up finishing in 1:57:47! This only furthered my obsession with running, because I knew I could push myself harder to get a PR at my next half. Since then, I've run several other half marathons, dozens of shorter races and the Philadelphia Marathon in 2012!
I recently took the RRCA Coaching Certification Course so am now officially a running coach!
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| Some Oiselle teammates in Eugene, OR (April 2013) |
