Hi, my name is Maria. I moved to the island over 2 years ago with my husband and
two children on military orders.
This is our second tour in Hawaii, our first being over 12 years
ago! Sadly this is also our last
year in Hawaii as my husband will be retiring the summer of 2013. I really don’t have a place that
I call my “hometown” since I was a military brat (Navy) from the very beginning
and then a military wife (Air Force) and have moved around all my life. However, most of my family resides in
Washington state and Tennessee.
Tennessee is where I met and married my high school sweetheart nearly 19
years ago! We have two wonderful
children together, Gabby, who is 15 and going to be a sophomore in high school
and my little monster, Elijah, who
will be 3 in September!
I first started attending Stroller Strides here at Hickam
when it first started up in February and I will say it couldn’t have come at a
better time for me. Last year, my
husband and I trained to run the Honolulu Marathon. This was a dream of his to run a marathon, not mine, but I
thought it would be a great way for me to try and lose the baby weight from my
son. So I trained, ran my first
marathon, which happen to be my first race ever, last December. I was really proud for finishing the marathon, but
REALLY discouraged that instead of losing weight, I gained weight! This is when I realized I needed to do
something more than just running for my weight loss and joined Stroller
Strides.
Since joining Stroller Strides I have lost several pounds,
inches, and have trimmed about two minutes off my minutes per mile! I have since ran two half marathons and
currently training again to do the Honolulu marathon this year. All of which I know would have not been
possible without Stroller Strides.
Through Stroller Strides I have met some really good friends, together
we have created a great running group that keeps me motivated and encouraged
with my weight loss goals and marathon training. Being able to bring Elijah with me during my workouts is
just another added bonus. He truly
enjoys being able to play and interact with all the other kids and
mommies. I cannot say enough good things
about Stroller Strides; it has truly been a blessing to me and I only wish that
I had joined sooner!
