Hello fellow followers!
I have decided to train for my first marathon: The Phoenix Marathon. I got this idea back in June of this year when I was in a car with my in-laws headed to a wedding. Betsy, my mother-in-law, had mentioned that she had never thought to do a marathon until a friend of hers told her that she didn’t have to run a marathon to participate, but that she could train to walk a marathon.
This got me contemplating. Could I do that? Could I successfully finish 26.2 miles? My relationship with running was zero. Nada. Nothing. Not a chance. But, the idea of walking it made the idea of finishing a marathon slightly more possible. Although I would never use the word “athletic” to describe me as a person, I had gained, and still have, a deep and ever growing appreciation for hiking, starting 4 years ago when I began my journey in Arizona. With my background in Naturopathic Medicine, I started to evaluate my own health journey and became inspired by non-fictional movies and books, such as Into The Wild, Maiden, and Walking the Gobi. How stellar! If these people could push boundaries and overcome their own trials and tribulations, just maybe I could do the same in my own way.
I want you to know that I am writing this blog for all the individuals out there who never thought they would ever participate in a marathon, let alone run around the block. I am writing this blog for all the individuals out there who don’t consider themselves athletic, for those that would rather walk the escalator at the mall, for those who would rather sit at home on their comfy couch at the end of a long day of work and watch a movie, for those who had once lived for pushing boundaries but gave it up, for those who have talked themselves out of doing something amazing because (insert your personal excuse: “I am too old, tired, busy, fat, incapable, bored, embarrassed, unmotivated”). Why do you ask? Because I have been there. I can relate. My only hope from this blog is that someone reading this will transform their health journey by making the first step, even if just one individual.
Live long, live strong.
Dr. Danielle Vogler, NMD
