She regularly runs 5K and 8K races like the Moonlight 5K in Williamsville or the YMCA Turkey Trot
By Jenna Schifferle
jenna.schifferle@gmail.com
Previous editions of the “Writer on the Run” column have focused on some pretty extreme goals: running 30 miles as a birthday landmark, completing the Chicago Marathon, sloshing through the snow for training and more.
With 2022, we mark a new chapter. In honor of this, I thought we would turn the page and try something different. Starting with this edition, I will be sitting down with members of the Buffalo running community to hear their stories and see what moves them. This month, I caught up with Junette Diaz, 44, a benefits manager in Buffalo.
Diaz’s fitness journey began in 2006 after having her youngest daughter. While caring for three children, she realized that she was doing a lot for her family and not taking the best care of herself.
That day, she resolved to focus on her health. And she did. It wasn’t until 2008, though, that she finally decided to join a gym, where she dabbled with Zumba and weight training. As she got more into it, she realized that the three days a week she spent at the gym were much-needed “me” time.
Then, in 2020, everything changed as the pandemic took hold. Diaz began working from home and found herself more sedentary and less happy and healthy overall. When regulations allowed, she increased her fitness routine to five days a week in an attempt to combat what she called the “quarantine 15.” During her gym sessions, she found inspiration in the people around her, from her highly motivated fitness teacher, Tracy, to a new friend who encouraged her to rethink her diet.
“We spend so much time at the gym, but if we go home and don’t eat the right things, it defeats the whole purpose,” Diaz said. “[This friend] really helped me see the light.”
Diaz had already been a gym-goer for over a decade at that point, but it wasn’t until she started nourishing her body and thinking about what she was eating that she saw any tangible progress.
She’s proud to say that she did end up losing that quarantine 15 — while gaining more energy and joy than ever before.
At the start of 2021, she entered yet another chapter of her fitness journey. She tied up her running shoes and joined a beginners’ run group on Saturdays. She then found another group called the Officially Unofficial Sunday Run Group. This group meets on Sunday mornings at various locations throughout Erie and Niagara counties. For Diaz, these groups were the perfect opportunity to get outdoors and take in nature.
Diaz started slowly and gradually increased her mileage and pace. Over time, she managed to get her 5K time down to around 35 minutes and she soon realized she loved the sport.
“It brings me joy to know I can do it, to know that I have both the ability and the strength to push forward,” she said.
Now, Diaz regularly runs 5K and 8K races like the Moonlight 5K in Williamsville or the YMCA Turkey Trot. Sometimes, her kids join her and she takes joy in knowing she’s setting a strong example for them. It hasn’t always come easy for Diaz, but she’s proud of her journey and how far she’s come. Having been through periods of low motivation herself, she has a little advice for anyone looking to get started.
“Go into it with the mindset that this is a habit. It doesn’t need to seem like a burden. Just find something you enjoy and run with it,” she said.
