Why am I here?

For most of my life, I've been a person who quits everything I start, plagued by self-doubt and a "never good at anything" internal narrative playing on repeat.

 

Where did this come from? Who knows. That's for a future therapy session. This all began to change roughly three years ago. I was sitting in my living room, months after having my third baby and felt mentally and physically out of shape. In a moment of desperation, I put on my old shoes (with holes in the sides) and baggy clothes, then set out for a run. Although I barely made it one mile, I felt the tiniest bit of relief that made me want to continue running at least for that month. What I didn't realize at the time was that running would become a big part of my mental health toolbox and I'd build an amazing community of over a million keep-it-real individuals who I share my daily struggles (and sometimes wins) with.

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All of this happened after falling short in my search for relatable running content. I was so desperate to find someone posting about their imperfect struggle-filled life that I decided to do it myself. I thought I was just sharing my experience, but as I was running the NYC Marathon and meeting hundreds of people from my audience, it dawned on me that I'm actually inspiring and motivating people.

 

My current Chicago Marathon training cycle has taught me so much about myself and others when it comes to running, and makes my mission seem more important than ever: to show what can happen when we show up consistently for ourselves.