Cindy Hodson

Cindy Hodson was 19 months old when she underwent surgery to correct a severe heart defect: The aorta and pulmonary artery were transposed. Oxygen-depleted blood was being transported out into the body via the aorta, while oxygen-rich blood was being pumped back to the lungs through the pulmonary artery.

Surgeons fixed the problem by reconstructing Hodson's heart to make it work backwards: After the surgery, the right ventricle pumped blood out into the body while the left pumped it to the lungs.

Growing up, she tired easily, and often had a blue tinge to her fingertips or nose. She couldn't participate in sports.

Eventually, her heart failed: The strain of pumping blood out to the body was too much for the right ventricle.

When she was 23, Hodson had a heart transplant.

And after years of being told to take it easy, she's now being told to hit the gym.

"I have to learn how not be a couch potato," Hodson says.

The Colerain Township woman is figuring it out: Last year Hodson finished her first Humana Heart Mini-Marathon and did the Reggae Run.