Hi, FitFam! 

This space is for all of the breathless sprints and slow stretches, the heavy lifting and critical rest days, the airy mountain tops and the deep valleys, the salty sweat and salty tears, the writing and rewriting of what gives us strength and the room we make for recovery. This space is for making space to give more to yourself, and to use that strength to give more to everything around you. 

Mental space. 

Physical space. 

Space for change. 

Space for growth. 

Space for forgiveness. 

Space to ask, what’s next? 

It can mean running around the block for the first time without stopping. Picking up something that’s a little heavier than your comfort zone. Taking five minutes, five real minutes, to close your eyes and commit to the quiet. 

I grew up climbing trees and running just to feel my body move. Later, my body betrayed me by growing and morphing into something that I felt I couldn’t control, and I let that influence the clothing I wore, the sports I played and the worth I assigned to myself relative to where and how I spent my time. I loved cooking but viewed calories as the enemy and exercise as a punishment. Even as an MVP athlete, I interpreted the ability to operate on a calorie deficit as a sign of resilience, of strength. 

 My brain and my body felt aligned when I removed myself from the nonsensical clothing measurements dictated by people who didn’t know me. I had to stop the fruitless comparisons to bodies and experiences that weren’t my own, and this meant getting OUT. My body moved freely and gladly when I was hiking through the woods of Maine and gliding down the rivers of the Boundary Waters connecting the United States and Canada. The hours spent portaging a canoe up the winding Colorado canyons conditioned my brain to know that: this is hard, and I can do hard things. This is hard. And I can do hard things. 

I’ve trained and raced through many obstacles, and even some that I couldn’t, or didn’t, finish. I’ve gained muscle and grit by fueling my body with what it needs, including doughnuts. I’ve operated in calorie deficits and mistreated my body by restricting it or overindulging when all I really needed was forgiveness. I’ve seen and done a lot, but what fuels me the most is doing hard things, and that includes getting up every day and taking just one more step to living with more patience and more strength. What fuels me the most is challenging what I can give by just being myself. 

My fitness and wellness journey has just begun, and it’s richer and better for having your support and encouragement and learning alongside all of you what can fuel the fire from within, especially when it’s hard. 

Thank you, FitFam, for joining me in stretching, moving, exploring, sweating and breathing in a little more deeply!

Cheers,

Meredythe