Welcome to Hotpotato: semi ferrous!
I'm Kate, aka hotpotato, I'm 29
I've been running now for 6 years, and I've done over 70 races! As my running and my triathlon has progressed it's gone from part of a weight-loss effort, to an achievement fix that satisfies my Type-A need for goals and "grades", to an essential part of my life style. I'm still training, but it's being active and being outside that I love now. PBs are great, but being awesome and happy is better.
If you're interested in reading about who I was before I was hotpotato, the story of my health and fitness life follows:
I was chubby kid, and a very inactive teenager with a sweet tooth, no moderation, and no nutritional knowledge. This meant that by the time I was 14, I weighed something like 80kg. When I was 15, I decided enough was enough, and that it was time to do something about it. I cut down on the treats, and started walking into school every day. When I was 17, I added the occasional swim, and during uni started dabbling with running and gym workouts. By the time I finished high school, I'd lost 20kg.
A long-term relationship and too much booze and pizza (without the dancing to burn it off) saw me put a good amount of weight back on when I was about 21. I was back to tubbyish again when I started working as a summer clerk for my first law firm in 2003. That was when I rediscovered exercise with a vengeance. I joined a new, more expensive, gym and made sure I was there before 6 every morning to get my workout in. I also started loosely following the WW points system and over the next several months went from a size 12 to a size 8 (NZ sizes).
In early 2004, events conspired, and I found myself signing up for my first half marathon that June. I had no idea where to begin- I didn't know any other runners, and it was all totally foreign to me- so I engaged a personal trainer to write my plan. In the end, she even did my long runs with me! I took to running quickly- it wasn't long at all before I was rocking my 16/17/18k runs, and I ran my first half in old cross-trainers and rugby shorts in a time I'm still proud of: 1:54.
In 2005, I joined a local harriers club. I was single, just out of uni, and finally earning a salary, and it was one of the most awesome times of my life. Working late, drinking plenty, meeting new friends, busy as anything, and running with a fantastic group of people of all ages. During this time, I ran my half pb (1:42) and my 5k pb (22:04).
Things started to go downhill as I over-worked, over-partied and over-trained myself in 2006. I took a step back from running and started dabbling in triathlon. Despite having been a pretty competent runner, I was an absolutely rubbish triathlete, and I found the cycling so stressful that the next year it was back to running again.
2007 saw me run my first and second marathons. I finished the Rotorua marathon in 4:04, and bagged myself a sub-4 (3:58) in Auckland later that year.
It was also the year of my 10k pb- a singularly unimpressive 47:54.
In 2008, inspired by my hot husband, I returned to triathlon, and we trained for our first half ironman in December 2008. We joined a virtual team with a whole bunch of fabulous Kiwi bloggers, I slowly conquered my fear of the bike,
and we both rocked the tough, hot, hilly Rotorua Half IM in 2008 (my time was 6:26).
We repeated that in 2009, both racing respectable PBs despite even tougher conditions. Another good season in 2010-11, but it was time for a change for me... And now? I'm baking our Hotpotato Chip!
