From there, Baker moved her runs outdoors. She was a New York City transplant and wanted to use her runs to explore the city. By Thanksgiving 2021, she ran her first 5k, a turkey trot.
After that, a neighbor recommended she join a group run. Initially, Baker felt unsure about the prospect of running in a group. “That was really intimidating, because I had the mentality that I was such a newbie and I was going to go run with other people. It was a lot for someone who came from a mindset of being ashamed and upset with my physical body. But something inside me kept saying, ‘You gotta do it,’” Baker says.
Gradually, she increased her running to walking ratio so that she could run a half-marathon in March. “That was the worst run of my entire life. But I learned so much from that. I had to use each experience when I wasn’t necessarily happy or proud and grow with it,” she says. Again, Baker found that the long-term gains she was experiencing helped keep her going when she was uncomfortable in the short-term.
Baker got the opportunity to run the New York City marathon in early November as a fundraiser for Be the Match, an organization that helps match bone marrow donors and recipients. “I felt like, ‘What did I get myself signed up for?’” she says. “But deep down, I wanted to do it, and I knew I was doing it for an amazing cause.”
She created a training plan that worked for her busy life and added a few miles every weekend. “I still had to go to work every day. I still had to take care of my children, and I still had things to do, so I knew I had to tailor my plan,” she says. “I work out a lot, but it helps me be a better mother, a better nurse and a better person.”
She pays attention to her body when she eats
When Baker was training for the marathon, she was eating a lot of carbs, but now that she’s running shorter distances, she’s balancing her proteins, fats and carbs: “I allow myself to eat what I want when I want, but I listen…
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