GUEST POST: On The Right Track, Tara Laferrara

I always liked playing sports, basketball was my favorite growing up. However, I finally figured out I wasn't cut out to play basketball when I would steal the ball to run down the court for a breakaway layup and couldn't really stop myself. My coach told me I was faster than the ball itself. I never thought it to be a possibility and when he told me to try out for track, I thought it was a joke. In four years I went from not knowing what track was to winning the state championship in the 200m dash and getting a full athletic scholarship to a Division 1 university. It became everything I ever knew; how to get out of the blocks quicker than anyone else, running the curve of the 400m track, anchoring a relay to help my team get the gold, and finishing all the way through the finish line.

All good things come to an end, as they say. I came to the realization I was not going to make this a professional career, and I definitely wasn't going to be the next Allyson Felix, so I needed to find something else to satisfy the adrenaline rush I got during every race. While I still occasionally race people when I am intoxicated and talk about the “glory days” of track and field, I have realized my next real purpose in the fitness world is to motivate others to live a healthy and happy lifestyle as I have myself.

I started running longer distances and am about to run my second marathon this fall. It is crazy, because when I was a sprinter, I would cry to myself when they said we had to run anything longer than two miles. I’m not really sure what made me a long distance crazed lover, but hear me roar! While running through the streets of Denver is pretty great, a little place called Fitness in the City has brought back my love for everything functional fitness with circuits, ladders, squats, and kettle bells. I started going about a year and a half ago and never left. I have gotten in the best shape I have ever been in and continue to push myself to be my best. It also just so happens that a couple weeks ago I got a group fitness certification and I am starting to teach classes there! So get down to Fitness in the City and let me kick your booty into shape. I currently have Fridays at 5:15pm, so come down and get sweaty!

-Tara