Like a lot of women who are my age (42) or older, I decided who I was very early in my life. Softball? No. Ballet? Yes. Jeans? No. Dresses with puffed sleeves? Yes. Playing outside? No. Playing with Barbies in the house? Yes.

I don’t know who taught us we had to choose. I don’t know when we became “girly” girls or “tomboys”. I think my friends who chose the softball, the jeans and the outside playing felt as strangely committed to their choices as I did to mine. At least in the 70’s. You were a princess or an athlete. But you weren’t both. You could never be both.

So when, at age 35, I decided to start running it was with more than a little bit of fear. I had never played on a team, never participated in a sport, never been in a locker room. I never considered myself athletic and even though I could hold my own in a dance studio or a voice lesson, I seriously questioned what, if any, true athletic ability this body held.

I know I’ve mentioned before that it took me 3 months to run that first mile without stopping. I ran alone and had no support, really, other than I knew I wanted to push myself and I needed to get my heart rate up and somehow balance my spirit, my body and my emotions. Running did that.

But as the months went by and I started reading about other women who were doing crazy things like running half marathons and (gasp) FULL marathons I thought, you know what? I wasn’t an athlete then but I can be one now. I connected with an amazing group of women runners most of whom were just like me – trying to sandwich training in between work, kids, cleaning, bill paying and crazy commitments in our homes and communities. We were all in the same boat – none of us were going to grace the cover of Runner’s World but we were all committed to getting out there and (maybe more importantly) we were committed to encouraging each other.

For the first time I found myself part of a team – not in the traditional sense, maybe, but a team nonetheless. I found myself committing to crazy things and crazy distances and saying “sure, why not?” when yet another race was suggested. All the sudden? I was an athlete. And I had a team.

And now, through FB and other online forums, we cheer each other on, lift each other up on the bad days, nurse each other emotionally through injuries, motivate each other to get our butts out the door. We HAVE become a team. Or at least what I always thought was the best part of a team – people being there for each other and working toward a common goal.

So as we prepare to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon (again) I realize I have it both ways and you can, too. You can (finally) be the princess AND the athlete. It’s taken a lot of years and many women have come before us so we can have both and to those women I dedicate this post. Thank you for being the tip of the spear and showing us that we can be girly girls and athletes and team mates and sisters. And princesses. Because all girls are.

In 2 weeks I will be happily donning my tiara and my running shoes. And will be oh so grateful that I don’t have to choose.

Happy Running!!

Jen