Indomitable Will~ Under Armour What’s Beautiful 3.0

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. -Mahatma Gandhi

This story has been waiting to be told. I can’t tell you how many times over the past couple of years that I have sat down, coffee in hand, to write my thoughts..my deepest thoughts…about me. My dreams, my baby-step goals, my plans for what I want to accomplish in this short life we are gifted, and more importantly, my reasons.

And now, thanks to Under Armour and Fitfluential, I have that open door just waiting to walk through.

First, let’s talk about What’s Beautiful 3.0.

Under Armour is on a mission to redefine the female athlete. They are asking women everywhere to think hard, set goals, HUGE GOALS, and then go out there and ACHIEVE those goals. Along the way, they want to see the process.  They want to see real women doing real things. By asking us to “redefine” the female athlete, I’m going on the assumption that they want to see proof that women=strong and strong=beautiful. And I’m glad to accept that challenge. Below are the details.

•  Sign Up
• Set a Goal (or GOALS!)
• Spend the next few weeks working your tail off to reach those goals and document the details.
• Along the way, support and inspire the community.
• Aim high to be one of the 3 finalists to attend a retreat in Costa Rica.
• For a quick demo, check out this video link. What’s Beautiful 3.0
• Use the hashtags #whatsbeautiful and #IWILL in social media
• Follow @UAWomen on Twitter and Facebook.

Also, I have my athlete page set with my goals.

Now, let’s talk about why me and why now?

For the past couple of years, I’ve been in a holding pattern, to put it in simple terms. My husband and I were finally settled in a place we love, close enough to family, and financially secure. It was time to start a family. I never stopped being active, but I didn’t put 100% of my focus on my health and fitness goals. The only one I really went after with relentless in-your-face effort was my marathon. And I got it! It was one of the happiest days of my life and I was blessed to share that day with my family.  After that day, Stephen and I talked and decided it was really time to “get serious” about starting our family. My age and health risks put me in a higher risk category for carrying a child and we didn’t want to waste any more time. I put my fitness goals on the back burner because I knew that I needed to be extremely careful if I were to get pregnant. I also let some depression and comfort eating take over and gained weight, neither of which is helpful for conception.

Long, detailed story now short: After almost 3 years, the doctors agree that children are not possible.

And so beginning in January 2013, I decided I have 2 choices:

• Stay in the rut I had dug for myself after hearing the news.
• Pull myself up by my bootstraps and keep walking.

I decided it’s time to lay down some serious goals for me. I want another marathon. I want an ultra-marathon. I want Pike’s Peak. I want those CrossFit skills like pull-ups, handstands, muscle ups. I want to conquer the fear of the jump box. I want to PR in the 5K again.

I want so much more for me than just “failed at being a parent”.

I don’t want to  waste the gifts of time and opportunity that I have been given.

I want to be better than yesterday. I want to treat each day as a gift and refuse to let it pass by doing nothing.

Why?

Because to me, that is What’s Beautiful.

• It’s not how I look in my running shoes.
• It’s not how “thin” I am.
• It’s not a hair color, body type, or “thigh gap”

It’s how I treat my body and use it to be a better person for my community.

It’s how I take on this journey down a new path now that the path to being a mother has been blocked. One dream is gone. Others are waiting.

And how will I get there?

INDOMITABLE WILL

#IWILL