Last week I felt so privileged to be chosen as one of the new ambassadors for the online community – Run Like a Girl (RLAG).
For those of you that are not aware of this organisation, RLAG was started by a group of three fierce women that sought out a way to bring runners from around the world together in a way that promotes living life to the fullest- and it is where I began my journey into running.
I used to think that running was something that had to come naturally, and that you had to look a certain way, or run a certain speed, to be considered a runner, but after travelling to Costa Rica on an RLAG retreat I began to change the way I identified with myself and the sport. After hearing the stories from the women I met on the retreat, and of the other runners online, I began to slowly put more trust in my ability to keep moving forward towards my running goals.
Starting a new sport was difficult, and although I was active throughout my life playing soccer and downhill skiing, my first trail run had me destroyed after just a few miles. It was hard, but I was hooked. As my mileage started to creep up, I began to sign up for more and more races, and looked for new ways to push my own boundaries. Not every day is easy, and there are days, especially when it is pouring rain, where I just want to snuggle by the fire rather than head out for a three hour run, but there has never been a run that I have regretted. As my journey progressed into more mileage than is considered “normal” to do, I struggled with the amount of commitment needed to reach my goals, and the backlash from friends and family that began to promise me that I was going to ruin my body – especially my knees.
I will tell you this much – not only has running strengthened my body, it has strengthened my mind, and it is through the RLAG community that I have found the support I needed to keep going. Because of this, I am now so honoured to be part of the team that first inspired me, and I can’t wait to help promote this fantastic group of women in 2018.
For more information on the other great RLAG Ambassadors, visit:
http://runlikeagirl.ca/ambassadors/
savedbythetrail.com 