Monika Vajda - Runner
I was born in Budapest, I am 47 years old. I have been working as an office manager for a large security company for 23 years now. My partner and I have known each other for 23 years, we work in the same place, but we have only been together for 15 years. I started to get involved with running and fitness about 20 years ago, but actually with smaller, but rather larger interruptions, it had not yet become regular for me.
About 10 years ago, after seeing good examples like my sister-in-law, I started running again, and from then on it became a regular part of my everyday life. I realized that I can relieve the tension from my stressful job perfectly, and I love the feeling that a workout gives me.
I started going to races in 2015, and I got the hang of it pretty quickly, and relatively quickly I was already running half marathons (BSI, MaratonMan, Futni Szép). After I had already tried out domestic races, I started going to foreign races in addition to them, of course combining the pleasant with the useful: I looked for races in places I had not been to before, so I could increase the number of new countries, and not just the medals. Since then, I have also run the authentic Athens Marathon!
I have been a member of Futeam SE in Baja for 8 years.
My friend Örs Dinnyés, who is still my running coach and also a member of Futeam SE, multiple IronMan and ExtremeMan winner, prepared me for my first marathon (2018 MaratonFüred). I learned a lot from him and I am extremely grateful for his patience and support!
Since 2020, I have also had a multiple IronMan and double IronMan fitness coach, Trainer Balázs Bíró, who is the personal trainer of Life1 Flórián (Gilda Max Fitness). Under his influence, I started swimming in addition to running, learning to swim properly, and cycling. It is not a secret that I will complete the IronMan one day. This would also be a big deal because in March 2022, I was diagnosed with a terrible autoimmune disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis. And as we know, this disease is not famous for its sufferers doing triathlons. When I received the diagnosis, I had three Major marathon entries (Berlin, Chicago, and New York) and was preparing for the Rome Marathon. After the Rome Marathon on March 27, 2022, I decided to cancel all major marathons because I thought I would never be able to run such a distance again. I really regret it, because since then it has been proven that I can do it easily, and in 2023 I ran my best Spar Marathon so far, surprising a lot of people, especially my two coaches, who didn't know I was running... So I decided again to go for the Major races, to see if I could get in again.
My illness doesn't affect me at the moment, I don't have any illness awareness. When I was diagnosed, I also became Covid-19, so I had a good week to think about what I really wanted, to get better (although they say it's impossible), or to wallow in self-pity. I decided to go for it and not let myself get carried away. I looked into everything, so I quickly switched to a vegetarian diet and eat fish. I pay attention to vitamins and avoid all the food and drinks (there are quite a few of them, the list of prohibited foods is long) that basically trigger inflammatory processes in the body. I also take medication, which also prevents you from eating or drinking a lot of things. I have to go for check-ups every three months, and they do an immune lab test every six months. My values are constantly improving, which I can thank, among other things, for the high-quality nutritional supplements, training aids, and mainly Hammer. Since I've been using it, my performance has improved in every way, my strength and endurance have improved, and my long-term training has become much more effective. I feel like I'd be sick if I stopped exercising. My doctor keeps saying that my values are getting better and better, and that if I feel half as good as I look, I shouldn't stop exercising. This is basically what was prescribed as a cure for me 😊
