Hello Susanne

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Summertime in Brooklyn 🇺🇸🗽 #godblessamerica #4thofjuly #fypシ

I stepped away from running for a while.

Not because I was lazy or lacked discipline, but because life got loud, messy, and honestly.. I wasn’t in a place where I could just push through the day let alone lace up my sneakers. I needed more than a pause. I needed to heal on the inside before I could focus on anything on the outside.

So I stopped, stopped training, stopped pushing, just collapsed into it all of it… and just focused on coming back to myself and what’s important to me, my life & my family. Trying to remember who I am, what matters most to me and what I’m capable of.

It took some time but I started again. First just walks here and there, then some weight lifting & eventually I put my running shoes back on. Today I finished an 8-week program and ran 30 minutes sustainably again.

No pressure. No proving anything. Just presence.

And what I’m taking from this isn’t just fitness, it’s perspective.

Strength doesn’t disappear when you pause.
It rebuilds when you return.

Taking care of your mental and emotional health isn’t falling off. It’s part of the work. And believe me it’s hard work.

And if you’re in a place where scared to start again, and you just can’t visualize being in a better place physically, mentally, emotionally.. believe me I get it .

But if I can come back to this, if I can rebuild, If I can put my sneakers on and overcome every obstacle life has thrown at me .. trust me you can too. ♥️🏃🏻‍♀️🫶

STORY TIME 🤭

Years ago, my best friend and I were just two moms chasing toddlers around Disney parks. Every now and then we’d stumble upon a weekend and see runners proudly wearing their medals. We’d look at each other and say, “One day.”

As two girls who had never run a mile, it felt like something meant for another version of us. Another life.

Then Wine & Dine 2023 registration was opening, and she looked at me and said, “Why one day? Why not now?”

So we did the crazy thing. We signed up.

We started training. We ran our first 5K. Then our first 10K. We had the time of our lives and immediately regretted not going for the half marathon. So naturally, we signed up for Princess Weekend 2024.

But life had other plans.

Some seasons ask more of you than races and finish lines. Life got heavy. Things happened that shifted priorities, and running became something I had to put on pause.

For a while, I thought maybe that chapter had closed.

But here’s what I’m learning: dreams don’t expire, and neither do the women who carry them.

You don’t lose yourself because you take a break. You don’t have to start over. You just begin again.

So here I am. Back in training. Finishing up the You Can Run Outdoors program. Building toward my first half marathon this October.

Not because I have something to prove.

Not because I need to make up for lost time.

But because the girl who used to stand in Disney parks pushing a stroller and saying “one day” deserves to know she was capable all along.

To every mom, every woman, every person who has put a dream on hold while taking care of everyone else:

It’s okay if your timeline changed.

It’s okay if life interrupted.

You are allowed to come back.

And sometimes the strongest thing you can do isn’t to never stop.

It’s deciding to start again. 🏃🏻‍♀️✨💕