Coatesville, Pa.
Hi, my name is Joy Drager and I’m a 32 year old mom of three daughters, ages 2, 4, and 6. Nineteen months ago, I was in a wheelchair, and this year, I’ll be running in the St. Luke’s Half Marathon. It will be my first half marathon.
In my life, I was never athletic. In high school gym class when we had to run the mile, I could not even run one quarter mile lap around the track.
Due to a severely herniated disc in my lower back, I sustained a spinal cord injury in June 2011, age 30, at 270 lbs. After emergency spinal surgery in Philadelphia, I was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. I spent a month living at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital learning how to walk again, as I regained sensation and mobility. I was discharged home with a walker. After hours and hours of intense therapy and hard work, I graduated to a cane.
At my discharge appointment two months later, the neurosurgeon told me best way to prevent re-injury is to lose weight. The next day I started daily exercise and tracking my nutrition.
I began my exercise SLOWLY. Like really, really slowly. The first day, I walked around my block. I hobbled and limped 0.25 miles in 25 minutes, with a CANE. The next day I went a little father, the next day a little faster, just doing what I could, getting out there and moving and sweating every single day. After many months, I added in 30 second jogging spurts. Then I just tried to run more and walk less, gradually introducing faster speeds as my body could tolerate it. After a few months, I was able to jog for my whole workout.
Over the course of 11 months, I lost over 100 pounds, just from changing my nutrition, and running. I never in my life wanted to run until I was in that wheelchair. Part of my injury remains – I am still numb down the back of my right leg and the bottom of my right foot. I’ve taught my body how to compensate for that, and now I can run a single mile in as fast as 8 minutes. My fastest 5k race time is 28:10. I’ve run up to 10 miles at a 10:00 pace during my training this winter.
Currently during a typical week, I run 6 days/week and lift 2x/week. I ran seven 5k races in 2012, one 5k so far in 2013, and am now working toward training for longer distance events.
The key to my success: Consistency. Just get out there and DO it. Watch your portions. Sweat every day. No excuses.