Well hello there!
If you don’t already know me from my youtube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/martinethelazyrunner?feature=guide), my name is Martine and I’m a runner.
I am going on my 6th year of long distance running. I was always into running but just never developed my skills. I remember back in grade 6 running a cross country race in my school.
It was approaching my last year of university and I started noticing that my naturally slim body was uhh…putting on some weight. I was completely to blame though since I had horrible eating habits. I always starved my body of nutritious food but wouldn’t refrain from munching on baked goods and candies all day long. It seemed to work in the past in maintaining a lean body but the effects started showing as I entered my twenties (I feel old saying that since I just turned 25 two weeks ago! haha).
I started seeing tagged pictures of myself on Facebook and saw that I wasn’t as slim as I used to be:
Now, I must add that I’ve always been a vain person. I like keeping myself fit so when I say “extra weight” I mean that I wasn’t as “skinny” as I was used to and started freaking out about it.
One night while running errands at Walmart, I picked up some running shoes. They were plain ol’ no name running kicks. At the time I had no idea about pronating, over-pronating, gel support, cushioning etc..
The next day, I had set my alarm for 7am and went for my first jog. All I had were tights and a tshirt and since it was wintertime, I put on this winter jacket not knowing about dressing for the weather.
Everyday, I would run for about 10-15 minutes eventually working my way up to 30 minutes. I started seeing changes immediately! My face started showing more cheekbones, my legs started slimming down as well as my arms. I just became a more “sculped” version of myself. I loved it!
Since my metabolism reved up, I was also able to eat whatever I wanted without feeling bad because my fitness would make up for it.
Eventually, the summer came and I started running further distances as well as biking. I was always out and about on my bicycle, parking it, running errands and then running some more. I was so slim that people started calling me out on how “skinny” I looked and asking if I was eating. haha.
Anyways, beyond just my changing appearance I also felt stronger, motivated and full of purpose. Running became my passion and I was always putting running beyond anything else. I would have functions to go to but would make sure I ran before or after. If I had school or work, I would wake up early in the morning in order to go for my jog.
After a guy broke my heart (long story) that’s when I REALLY started becoming passionate about running. I would literally run until my heart was content!
Today, I’ve completed an official 10k and a half-marathon with the Somersault Events (Winterman Challenge) and am presently training for this marathon in Feb.
I don’t want to spill the beans too much on my running timeline since I want to “ease you” into my running life, but that’s the gist of it.
Running is my passion beyond just for weightloss and fitness, it actually challenges me and helps me forget troubles (or makes my think hard).
I will elaborate further into this in future posts but right now, just wanted to say “hello!”
-Martine
By the way, this is me now:
martinethelazyrunner 
inspiring stuff. Keep up the good work. I’ve tried to start running myself but find it hard to stay motivated. I’ll be following your journey all the way from Southern California 🙂
Hi Robert! Hope you enjoy my blog and most importantly, hope you get into running. Once you fall in love with the sport, you get addicted! Hope you’re enjoying the heat over there…*jealous face!*
Hey Martine! You look great. I’m starting to train for long distance running now. I’m doing so primarily to lose some weight! Hopefully I will be successful. Do you have any advice in regards to shoes?
Hey girl!
In my opinion, running is the best way to lose weight. There were many times that I wasn’t able to run because of (injuries, vacation etc…) and I hitting the gym is NEVER the same results as outdoor running.
Just make sure to eat alot of protein so that you won’t be burning off too much muscle off your body and getting that “skinny fat” look. Not cute. lol. go to the gym too to get some lean muscles and work on your arms. With running I find that they get mad flabby:(
Anyways, in regards to shoes..Hmm..honestly, I can’t give the best advice for that because it depends. I run using this technique called “Chi running” so for me, any shoe goes because of my running form. Research it;)
But I would say to get someone at the store to research the way you run and then get the shoes that will help you run as neutrally as possible (as in, landing with your foot completely on the ground).
When you get assessed (if your an overpronator, underpronator, flat foot etc…) go on runnersworld.com and read the reviews!
But the best thing is to do your own thang and to test out your own shoe! Don’t get fooled by the price tag. Price does not mean quality.
As for me, I love alot of cushioning so even with minimalist shoes I feel like I need one that had a little more padding then others.
But goodluck and let me know how it goes (for real, I’m not just saying that!)
Take care!!
Martine