My Running Story: Alice Esquivel

When did you start running? This one is a tricky answer. Inconsistently I have been running for about 12 years. Consistently I have been running since the end of 2016. I ran my first 10k that year and felt so achieved when I completed the race... I was hooked from there. Four months later, I ran my first half-marathon and then another 7 months later I ran my first full-marathon. Since then, I have participated in 5 full-marathons and approximately 30+ half-marathons. I love it!

What inspires you to be active? I'm a very passionate person. I can also be a bit obsessive as well… There's a fine line between those two things lol. I love seeing how people are doing in their fitness journey. It motivates me. I've also had a few friends who started running or became active from seeing how happy that makes me. That's huge! Seeing my friends get motivated and hearing their “thank you” messages is something that definitely inspires me to keep going and not stopping. I can't stop. I'm a go-getter and if I'm helping people, I'm all for it.

What lessons have you learned from running? Running has taught me to not give up. Also, one big thing that I'm still learning is listen to your body!!! Some days it’s hard to start...and I mean really hard lol! Other days, running a short distance can feel like a full-marathon. It's not being lazy if you decide to cut it short. It's okay. Our bodies get tired and they need to rest. We don't realize how much we are moving around or mentally busy. Running has also taught me to be more patient. I like to go full force all the time and because of that, I’ve been injured a couple of times so I’ve learned that when returning to running you can't go full force or you'll just hurt yourself all over again (been there, done that) . Anytime I feel a little something, I stretch and back off for a day or two and then see how I feel. In the end, I’ll be running longer because I gave my self the time to stop and rest. Another thing that I learned: STRETCH!!! I used to never stretch but now I know that foam rolling and some yoga do wonders!

How have the Andiamo challenges motivated you during these past months? The Andiamo running challenges saved me during the shut down. They also pushed me to get my butt outside and move. Even though I have been running for a while, I wasn't running outside at all. I would go straight to the treadmill at my apartment complex and honestly, I wasn't getting much results after a while. It wasn't helping to keep my weight off but also my performance was getting worse.

When the challenge started, I was like "Okay, 1 mile outside everyday, not too bad". The mile challenge got me out there and it was a GAME CHANGER. Then I started going further and further… I actually lost some weight and my performance was much better. I FELT better. It felt so good to be outside. I had forgotten how good it was.

Sharing my mileage with photos and seeing people cheering me on (I also cheer them on :) ) is what kept me going. It's why I'm still doing it today. Unfortunately, I moved to an area where some spots aren't the safest (I like to go a bit far), so I purchased a treadmill to at least have my morning run in a safe place. I try to go outside when I can..but you know how life is sometimes :) It's better than nothing. Because of Andiamo, I found my love for running again, especially running outside, and I also have met some great people in the Strava group. We are like family. Thank you for the challenges and thank you for the awesome Strava group! It really has made a difference in my life :)

Alice has participated in many of the Andiamo Races and has also completed all the Andiamo Mile Challenges since last March! Gracias for being part of the Andiamo running community and for inspiring others, Alice! ¡Muchas gracias por ser parte de nuestra comunidad! #Keepruning #keepgoing #yocorroeveryday