I first started running at the age of 35.
I ran my first marathon when I was 39. And just last week, at the age of 45, I ran yet another half. I can honestly tell you I’ve lost count of how many races I’ve run but I know it’s in the dozens.
Running is, to me, about far more than just fitness. It keeps my mind and my soul in alignment with my body and enables me to bring my best self to my family, to my work, and to my community.
But I’m not exactly built like a runner. At 5’6″ and 150 pounds (sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more) I’m not someone you would see on the street and think “obviously, she’s a runner.”
I have a pouch around my middle that, without surgery, will always be there thanks to my fantastic children. Evidently when you give birth to an almost 9 pound son and then 3 years later give birth to twins that are both around 7 pounds (or, in the words of my OB, the biggest twins he’d ever seen), you get a souvenir. #totallyworthit
But because of all this, running gear was always a struggle.
Until I found my first running skirt.
Because it was pre-instagram days (or if it was around I didn’t know about it) I can’t find a picture of that exact skirt, although I still own it. A black Gym Girl Ultra.
The first time I wore it I knew I had found my running uniform. I didn’t have to tug and pull at it, it didn’t ride up, and magically I also felt . . . pretty. I could get through an entire run without actually thinking about the clothes I was wearing. Oh, and bonus! It had storage! A place for me to put my tampon, my kleenex, and my phone! That was something I’d never found in another pice of running gear.
And when I dug a little deeper and looked into Nicole DeBoom and her vision for starting the company in the first place, I was in, hook, line and sinker.
Years later when the opportunity came up to be an ambassador, I knew there was no question – I mean, I already was one! Because I truly believe that a runner who doesn’t have to tug at her stuff and knows where her phone is and looks good doing it is a BETTER runner, inside and out.
I will always be grateful for my first skirt and for the community of women it introduced me to. Because although I could truly run in anything, running in something that makes me feel pretty, powerful and comfortable helps. And knowing that there are women, just like me, all over the world running, and getting stronger, and feeling amazing and overcoming their fears gives me strength and encouragement.
So maybe, it’s not JUST about the skirt.