My name is Angela Santo. I am 25 years old, and I have a lot to share about fitness, injuries, health, lifestyles, nutrition, and anything related to improving the body that we’ve all been graced with. I intend to share this with anyone who is looking for ways to improve their fitness and lifestyle. Anyone looking for inspiration, ideas, guidance, and perhaps a mutual frustration at times with the body. In spite of my youth, life has taken me to a place where I have valuable experiences that others could learn from and perhaps utilize in their own lives.
There are others who would greatly benefit from things that I learned in a slow and scenic way. My experience spans a variety of activities. Let me start out with a brief run down of what those are.
My stories will be about the gateway drug that can be known as “exercise.” At the age of 15, I became addicted to hiking up mountainside trails, hitting the trails every chance I got. Rain, or shine – I was huffing and puffing up those rocky, earthy trails. I would take my then-young dog, or I’d go alone. This began my unending addiction to fitness. I didn’t know it then, but I wouldn’t stop pushing myself from the moment I started.
As time progressed, I also walked all over cities nearby. Sometimes barefoot – catching the attention of people locally who were a bit wealthy. Other times I wore footwear and went wandering just to kill time. All of it added up to what was eventually to be a base of fitness and knowledge for years later.
Always addicted to the steep uphill trails that lead to sparkling lakes, glistening waterfalls, or scenic views, I enjoyed nature to the fullest. Through densely wooded forests, or open meadows, over time I picked up a habit of running down the hills. When the hiking season waned during winter times, I began swimming. It got too dark after my work hours were over to hit the trail on any day other than weekends.
Swimming has never been my favorite sport, but I did it to keep my lungs strong, and my body fit. I found it limiting to my schedule – I had to stick with the lap swim times at night.
This frustration led to the evolution of my desire to “experiment,” with something I had always been told just “wasn’t done,” in my family. I ran! These are stories in and of themselves, however – this was the beginning of my addiction to pavement pounding and more trail traversing (at a faster pace.)
The months passed, and my boyfriend – the Army soldier decided he would “show me,” circuit training, the kind of training he had learned in the US Army. He said he thought that I would enjoy it. At this point, I was an addicted beginning runner, and prior to that – swam for an hour at a time, when I wasn’t hitting the hiking trail for 2-3 hours at a time. I wasn’t familiar with strength training! Quick burst strength wasn’t what I had a lot of experience with. Quickly, I began to see the benefits.Open was the door of interval training, and circuits. Short and strong bursts. Combining these things, with a regular running routine, I became an athlete that I didn’t know I could be. At the height of my fitness, my boyfriend (let’s call him Jim, that’s his name) showed me a new circuit. The next day I tried this circuit out. He told me it was known to “smoke,” everyone who did it pretty good. To “smoke,” someone, (an army term) it means to wear them out – to push them to the max, their limit.
I did this routine by myself on a sunny day off. (It was a Monday – April 14th, 2008 to be exact). This was when I injured my knees in the short period of 20 minutes. I felt strong, invincible. It was a moment in time I can recall with vivid alacrity. Running through my head, were thoughts of self love and glorification. I felt strong, and I did the circuit with a finesse I was proud of.
This day impacted the course of my coming months in a way I could not have predicted. I injured myself.
It sent me on some important mental and physical lessons that I believe are of value to me, and anyone willing to listen about them. From medical lessons, physical therapy, depression, eating confusion, mental health, workplace challenges; my list is vast. Fateful was the day that also would one day be the beginning of what I hope to be a lifelong Yoga practice.
This is who I am. I am a young woman who has gone through a series of lessons, I am an athlete, and I’ve always been a writer. I will be writing articles from this background, sharing what I can with you.
My biggest reason for beginning this blog, is to access others who might be struggling, or those who are interested in the journey that is called fitness. Sharing my knowledge will bring me a sense of expression that I feel is missing from my life. If just one or two people can learn from my own path, my own journey – I would be accomplishing what I set out to do.
Maybe I can infuse inspiration for you, the reader just starting out on your fitness journey. Or maybe I can help you – the veteran fitness fanatic make it through a rough spell when you’re benched and don’t know where the path of recovery will end. I mean to connect with those who need it.
Feedback in the form of comments are greatly appreciated. Anything you have to share with me is helpful, whether it be positive or constructive. It is part of my journey now, to connect.
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