Angela Dybdahl - Lancaster, CA

My name is Angela Dybdahl and I am 36 years old. I have seven children ages thirteen to two and here is my story.

Fitness has always been my friend. I started ice skating when I was just four years old. I loved the ice and I thought I would skate forever, but I fractured my tail bone when I was almost thirteen, and my fear of the ice grew bigger than my love for it.

I spent years trying different sports only to get a bit lazy in high school. In my early twenties I took up running. I could only jog at first, and I thought a ten minute mile was amazingly fast, but the feel of the air filling up my lungs gave me a new sense of freedom. I loved running on cold mornings and starting my day off with so much energy.

As I started having children I found running the best exercise for keeping myself fit. I did have my times of loss of motivation but I always came back to running.

My fifth child was an emergency C-section. I was very ill after the baby was born and I really did not feel like I would recover from so many babies and such a traumatic surgery. But when my baby was almost a year I started walking on my treadmill. Slowly at first and then faster. Before I knew it, I could run for a minute, then five, then 15, and finally 30!! It was time to take it outside. I loved being outside again. Running gave me the freedom to think, to cry, to talk to God and myself. I lived for my runs in our mountain community and I never missed them. They were my sanity.

I have seven children now (yes, we're finally done!), and I love running more than ever. I have a much more structured running schedule now as I am preparing for my first 1/2 Ironman at Wildflower in May. I do my tempo runs, hill repeats, distance running, and brick training. I really enjoy riding my bike and swimming but it is running that breathes life into me.

Thank you for listening. I love Road Runners Sports, and I am so thankful that your catalog helped me find the right shoe, finally!!