It’s been a while!! A month and a half to be exact. Things have been a bit insane in my life recently—personal life stuff, work stuff, running stuff (all of which I’ll get into in a different post). There comes a point where something needs to give and writing for the blog was that thing. It’s not that I didn’t start posts in my head during my commute to work or on long runs—when it came time to actually sitting and putting pen to paper so to speak, I just didn’t have the energy. That being said, I’m truly excited to be sharing this blog post with you all!
Fit Moms & Full Plates–1st Blogaversary!
This weekend marks Fit Moms & Full Plates 1st Blogaversary! Our little blog turns 1! It’s really exciting to see it get this far with your help and support! We have over 300-likes on Facebook! We have 460 Followers of our blog! That’s amazing and we are really grateful for your support and that you keep coming back to read more of what we have to say.
When Pam and I started to talk about what to do for our Blogaversary we threw around a few different ideas, however kept coming back to this notion of starting something outside our comfort zone. Starting this blog was frightening—did we have anything to say that people would want to hear? Would we fail to get followers? Would we receive hate mail and comments? It was the start of a journey for us both to find another voice that we had within ourselves. Then it dawned on us—our Blogaversary is really about the start of personal journey—one that is still unfolding. What if instead of doing a giveaway for our Blogaversary, we started a summer long event to help others start their own personal journey—one that they might be too afraid to start on their own?!
As a marathon runner, I have encountered a lot of people—family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and strangers—who all say to me “I can’t imagine running a marathon! I can’t even run 1-mile never mind 26.2!” Well, I wasn’t always a marathon runner. I’ve talked about in the past about how I was not an athletic person growing up. I was self-conscious about my abilities, or lack thereof, with anything remotely related to sports. When faced with running hurdles in high school I quit rather than try. It wasn’t until after college did I decide to try and run again. I was doing Weight Watchers to help me regain a sense of what portion control was and to drop the 25-pounds that I had gained my senior year.
After work, I’d change my clothes, put my Walkman on and go for a run. I’d run from my dorm, past the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, around The Catholic University of America campus and finish up in Mary’s Garden. It was probably only about 2-miles, but it was more than I had done in years. I kept up with that distance for about 2-years. I never challenged myself to do more until 2004 when I decided to run my first 5K race. I remember being so nervous that I’d be unable to finish…I hadn’t done any “training” so to speak. I finished that race on 9/12/04 in 30:47.
Dani’s First 5K finish line photo–I looked like death!
I didn’t use any kind of plan to run my 5Ks or increase my distance other than my iPod—I was completely ignorant to the Couch to 5k program that is so popular now. I just created a playlist and decided to run to 5 songs. And I’d run to the same 5-songs each night, then I decided to try for 6 songs without stopping—then 7, 8, 9, etc. Once I had added to my endurance, I decided to try for speed. Again—I used the same play list only this time I used the same route around my house. Every night I tried to finish a little faster than the previous—until one day I realized I was finishing a whole song early! I started to use music to do speed work without even knowing it at the time. Spiderweb and I’m Just a Girl by No Doubt were my speed songs—without really knowing it at the time I would speed up during the fast paced chorus and slow down during the rest of the song. Soon I was just fun. It was fun for me because I saw improvement—I saw that maybe I had an ability within me that I didn’t know existed. I would talk to my awesome sister-in-law, Jenn about it. Jenn lives in Ohio, but she was also running and she was a great source of inspiration to me. She put in the work. She wasn’t afraid to be uncomfortable to get better and add a little speed.
After Lil One was born I had made a goal for myself that I needed to move past the 5Ks—I was going to run a half marathon. However, my first step was to break the dreaded 30-minute mark on my 5K time. It had stood for 5-years and I was going to conquer it! My sister-in-law, Jenn and her family were planning a trip to meet Lil One for her Baptism over Thanksgiving. With a local Turkey Trot 5K calling my name, I asked her to run it with me and pace me to a sub-30. I remember that day clearly. She started off by challenging me with a good pace and then asked me to pick someone ahead of me—I did. Then we sped up and passed them—then I decided to do it again…and again. About 1/2 of the way through I was laboring. She looked at me and said, “You know YOU’RE the one setting this pace right? I’m just along for the ride—it’s YOU who is running this fast!” I looked at her and said—WHAT?! I had no idea that I could run as fast as I was running! I had thought she was pulling me along. It was the start of my final kick to the finish. With the final mile left, Jenn looked at me and asked: “You have 1-mile left. How long did you push Lil One out for?” I said—2 ½ hours Jenn then said, “1-mile—that’s at worst 10-minutes. You can do ANYTHING for 10-minutes! You pushed a baby out for 2 ½ hours! That’s like a marathon!” I nodded my head, put it down and ran. I crossed the finish line in 27:22! I took almost 3-minutes off my time. I was on cloud nine! I hugged Jenn and thanked her—she told me I did it all myself. That was only partly true.
As I have continued to realize my love of running over the years, Jenn’s words to me during that 5K still ring in my ears as if she said them to me just this morning. While I may have run the race that day at my pace—it was her belief in me and my abilities that gave me the push I needed. I think there are many times in our lives that the only thing holding us back from realizing our own abilities is ourselves and our self-doubts. Often we do not have the confidence to start something we feel uncertain of, uncomfortable with, or afraid that we may fail at.
Starting a new personal journey in life can be frightening and daunting when going it alone—however, with support from others that step might not seem as large. That is what this event is about! Have you or a loved one been thinking about potentially making a step towards a lifestyle change and either aren’t sure where to start or afraid to make a longterm commitment? Our goal is to get as many people (not just moms!!) to join us in making a commitment to ourselves and take the first steps in new life journey towards better health—to become the best versions of ourselves. Together, we are asking you to set a goal of committing to run a 5K in September, through baby steps take control of our nutrition and little by little move towards a more Paleo lifestyle, and learn a little bit along the way!
The Details:
–The Fit Moms are going to run (for fun) the Color Me Rad 5K (http://www.colormerad.com/) in Providence on 9/28/2013. We want as many of you to join us as possible! Local folks—join us at the 5K, internet friends—consider it a Virtual 5K! More details to come!
–Already conquered the 5K distance? Set a new time goal for yourself!
–Never run a 5K and always wanted to run one? Join us! We are running it for fun which means for us pace doesn’t matter! We just want you out there with us! Whether you’ve never run a single step or have started and stopped a few times in a previous attempt….we want you to join us! You CAN do it! Dani will talk about training for a 5k throughout the event.
–Curious about Paleo but the “P” word frightens you? Worried you can’t do without bread and pasta? Can’t commit to a Whole 30? This is the perfect way to get your feet wet! Pam will guide everyone through the basics of Paleo on a weekly basis, taking it step by step.
–We will do a weekly topical post—Dani will focus on running, training and her tips on how to get started that she has learned over the years; Pam will focus on clean, whole, healing nutrition, fueling your body properly, and how to keep our bodies healthy through stretching and proper mobility techniques.
–We will have weekly check-in posts where we want to hear from you in the comments on how you are doing, what questions you have, etc. Not wanting to go public and post for the world to see? Shoot us an email to let us know—we are more than happy and willing to help you confidentially.–SUPORT EACH OTHER! Enough said there!
Join Fit Moms & Full Plates–Set a Goal!
Are you interested and want to join us? Do you have someone in mind who you think would join in if they had a companion? It all starts with a single step. Sometimes it is scary as hell, but when you realize that other believe in you and what you have the ability to accomplish the fear melts away. We cannot promise that you will love running and turn into a marathoner. We can’t promise that you may buy into trying a Whole 30 at the end of the event. But what we can promise is that you will give yourself and your body the respect, health, and confidence you alone deserve. We are all amazing individuals who, sometimes (myself included), just need that little boost from someone outside ourselves to make us see our own inner potential and that fear is just that—fear. It has no control over us. Find your inner voice—the one who is just waiting to be heard! Set your goal—join us. WE believe you!
Official starting date is next weekend—June 8….join us! Make our Blogaversary a success!
What do you say? Are you game? Let us know in the comments or with an email to us! We’d love a BIG turnout!
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