Welcome to my special guest series, Fitness Health and Happiness! Today, please welcome my friend, Tina, author of Just A Minute of My Time. Have you ever met a person that once they make up their mind to do something they commit and give it their 100%? That is Tina! She amazes me with her accomplishments and all that she does. I'm looking forward to our next race together, and her first marathon, in October, the Chicago Marathon 2011!
Hi everyone! My name is Tina Zarlenga and I am married 27 years to my husband Joel, mother of 3 (Ryan we lost when he was 5 years old, Chelsea who is 21 and Zachary just turned 17). I love reading, photography, scrapbooking and running! Connecting with Jill through our photography and scrapbooking I began to notice and be inspired by her running and our friendship was made even stronger.
Once I was categorized a smoker; today I would describe myself as a runner.
As I begin training for my first marathon in Chicago I am reminded of how far I’ve come on this journey of fitness and weight loss.
In 2003, I was a heavy smoker and over weight. Just running up a flight of steps made it tough to breath. Finally, I quit smoking. The habit of reaching for a cigarette just didn’t go away as easily as I had hoped it would. But I continued on my non-smoking journey, even as food began taking the place of cigarettes. This meant added weight, which came on quickly.
After several attempts at losing the weight, finally in 2009 I was ready to make a serious change in my life. It was time to get in shape and lose the weight. I started going to the gym with my daughter. At this point I had never even walked on a treadmill and my daughter was insisting it was time to try something new.
Cautiously I began walking the treadmill, gradually increasing my speed until I was at a slow jog. The first time I reached one mile jogging you would have thought I’d just completed a marathon. It felt that good! Each week I would set a new goal, motivation enough for me to get to the next level. Whether it was to increase my speed or distance I always strived for more.
After four months of running, my daughter and I signed up for our first 5k, the Frosty 5K which we ran in the snowy, cold month of February. My daughter ended up winning 1st place in her age group; I was delighted that I finished!
After that we signed up for several other 5k’s and became addicted to the challenge of a race. I started reading more on running and asked lots of questions. Jill was my inspiration that assisted me along my journey and to help me stay injury free! My daughter and I decided to run our first half marathon with Jill, the Rite Aid Cleveland marathon.
Since then I have ran 4 half marathons which include running The Rite Aide Cleveland two times, Akron Road Runner and the Disney Princess, as well as the CBus 10 miler (Columbus) and many 5Ks leading up to my full marathon this October in Chicago.
I still can’t believe I’m a runner, and while I enjoy the peace that running can bring you, I am always trying to improve. It’s a competition with myself and all you have to do is start.
Congratulations Tina on your new found journey! Very inspirational!!
Posted by: Rani | July 11, 2011 at 01:13 PM
Love your story, congrats on making an awesome life change!!
Posted by: Jennifer | July 11, 2011 at 09:58 PM
You're doing awesome Tina! Can't wait to see you in Chicago!
Posted by: JMC | July 13, 2011 at 08:02 PM
You're doing a great job, Tina! Very impressive - both the running & quitting smoking. :)
Posted by: Sarah @ 2paws Designs | July 13, 2011 at 09:34 PM