These photos were taken in the summer of 2000, and I joined the YMCA in September of 2000. There were other photos taken of me that were the ones that I looked at and thought, "This has gotten out of hand." I was 200 lbs and five foot 2 inches and miserable. I had back pain due to my obesity, and my self esteem was non-existent. Buying clothes, swimsuits, pantyhose, shoes, was a nightmare, and I hated going shopping. I worked as a nurse in surgery, so thankfully scrubs came in large sizes.

I was told that in order to alleviate my back pain I needed to lose weight. That was the start. I joined the Y at the encouragement of a friend and the relationship that I developed over the years with the staff, the members, and the fact my daughter was involved with KCC made things so good for me health-wise. I started slowly with the elliptical trainers. Those machines were designed with a heavy person in mind, whose joints cannot tolerate the pounding that a treadmill induces. I weight-trained along with the ellipticals 2-3 days a week for about 1.5 hours a day. The weight came off slowly but surely. That was the reward in itself. I was self-taught, reading everything I could get my hands on about how to properly conduct such an undertaking. I was vigilant, committed, obsessed (in a good way). I wanted to be healthy, and not be one of my patients whose hip or knee we were replacing due to obesity.

Eventually, I plateaued. I was stuck at 150, and couldnt seem to get any more weight off. That was when I decided to become an Athena. In runners terms, an Athena is a larger fit woman than runs. I realized that running was a completly different form of health maintenence. When I started seriously running (2003) I knew that I would never give it up. It provided me with an outlet for a lot of energy, a huge stress buster and it morphed my body into a well-oiled machine. The back pain I was still feeling at 150 lbs all but disappeared. I made an even more diverse group of friends who are my strength, my core. I love these people, these friends I have made at the Y.

I have finally arrived at my goal weight 125lbs, which is just right for my small frame. I love to run and I still weight train a few days a week. I run 6 days a week, roughly about 5 miles a day. One day a week I try to make 10 miles. I also teach the Inner Peace class at the Y, which is very similar to yoga. I also practice this at home. Yoga has become a very essential part of my running, and it allows me to become the fittest, most comfortable runner that I could be.

I owe the YMCA a bunch. Mostly, its the fact that I felt very comfortable in an accepting environment, where I felt that no matter what I looked like, or how big I was, that I was welcome and worthy of being there.