Jaime Molyneux

Jaime Molyneux ‘In Motion’

Hometown
Philadelphia, PA, USA

What’s your Story?
Jaime grew up in Philadelphia, PA with her older sister. When, at 27, Jaime was diagnosed with diabetes she was scared to death.  She knew something was wrong but never imagined diabetes.  She didn’t even know what “Type I” meant.  The first two questions she asked (in tears) were “How long is my life span?” and “Can I ever have children?”  She thought she had been given a death sentence.  She definitely believed she would be a sickly person for the rest of her life.

Luckily, because she was diagnosed as an adult, she was able to educate herself and take control. Jaime remembers crying for about 2 days and then taking on diabetes full force, almost as an obsession…at times an unhealthy obsession:  checking, counting, obsessing, and stressing when she got it ‘wrong’.  She never took time to get sad or feel bad about living with diabetes.  Jaime read everything she could and talked to anyone that would listen.  While it took her running, diet and overall health to a whole new level, she has since learned to relax a bit and enjoy life more.  Jaime believes that no one can live daily with such discipline and personal scrutiny and now tries to go more easy on herself.  The irony, her A1C still remains in good control!!! Immediately following her diagnosis, Jaime was sent to an education/support group and wanted to leave immediately.

The group was comprised of older adults with Type 2–a room full of people she felt she could not relate to! This experience led Jaime to shy away from so-called support groups and really hadn’t been involved with any other diabetes groups until coming across Connected in Motion! All in all, at 30 years old, Jaime still considers herself somewhat of a ‘newbie’!

Jaime has a BA degree in Spanish from Temple University in Philadelphia. She went on to pursue a Master’s degree in Spanish Linguistics, also from Temple. Jaime is now half-way through her MBA in International Business! She currently works in International Programs at Temple University and gets to travel all over the world because of it!

What keeps you ‘In Motion’?

Jaime ran two marathons prior to being diagnosed (in Montreal and Boston) and four since (in Philadelphia, Newport, Disney, Twin Cities).  She loves to run any distance–her personal best in the 1/2 marathon is 1:29 at the Indianopolis Indy Mini last year.  She once tried a sprint tri–It was fun but she feels much more grounded competing on her own two feet. Jaime ran in the Disney Marathon (with Chris Jarvis by her side!) and finished with a personal best of 3:13.

Jaime has run for as long as she can remember.  Before that, she would ride her dirt bike next to her mom as she trained for marathons.  In elementary school, she remembers being the chubby kid in the back of the race waving and smiling at everyone.  She still like to stop and give kisses to her family when she sees them on the course.  Her fans are what carries her through.
Jaime is taking a break from marathoning this season.  In May, she will be running a local 10 mile race “The Broad Street” run where she’s hoping to break 68 minutes.

After six marathons, Jaime has finally learned the importance of cross training to prevent injury.  She now does pilates, spinnning and  just started lifting seriously last fall.  She finds that the weight room is a whole new culture–nothing like running and a whole different type of pain.  She didn’t think anything compared to the pain she put herself through during speed work-outs but she has to hand it to weight lifters!!  She like the challenge though so now you’ll find her in the gym just as much as out on the trails.

Jaime absolutely loves to dance! She’s the first on the dance floor and the last to leave.  Ol’ school rap and hip hop is her favorite but she has to admit, she’ll dance to anything!  Zumba gives her the dancing fix I need in her life. She ran a fantastic Zumba session for Slisptreamers this year and everyone was totally hooked on her energy (and talent!)! Thanks Jaime!

Words of ‘Betes Wisdom.
Stay connected–There’s no reason to go it alone!