September 5, 2012

     I AM A RUNNER!   I never thought I would be saying those words.  How did I become a runner?  It started this past February when I went for a girls weekend getaway to Walt Disney World.  Disney had announced at Christmas that for Leap Day the park would be open (first time ever!) for twenty-four hours.  As a huge Disney fan, I flew with a girlfriend to Florida and met two other girlfriends.  In our twenty-four hours in Magic Kingdom on Leap Day, I learned that my two other girlfriends had just ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  It sounded like so much fun and I thought I really want to do this half marathon!  When I returned home, I thought about running more and wanting to lose weight and be more physically active, I researched running in my area.

    I found a local running group, Howard County Striders (www.striders.net) and joined a training group, FIT (Females in Training).  This was a twelve week running/walking training program designed for all fitness and running levels to achieve a 5K graduation race at the end of training.  Two weeks in my FIT training, I saw a post about a local 5K in my neighborhood.  It was being sponsored by Divas Run-Tri Du.  I had no intention of running the entire 5K  however decided to attend the race.  What can I say?  The Divas are amazing especially Adrienne and I am eternally grateful for their support (always!) and with the help of Danielle, I ran the entire race.  Here's a video of the 5K and I'm in the orange jacket and striped tank.  

 

      I completed the Striders FIT program with the assistance of wonderful coaches and fellow FIT women, ran four other 5Ks this summer and am now hooked on running!  Now, you ask about the name of my blog:  Gracious Warrior Princess.  I decided to name my blog this since my name:  Anna Louise means gracious warrior. I have always and will be a gracious warrior!   Princess comes from my love of Disney and my Divas.  The Divas have named me Warrior Princess ever since that first 5K so I have decided to combine my love of Disney and running and now can proudly say, "I AM A RUNNER"!

How did you become a runner, cyclist, swimmer, etc?