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| This is where it all started: #COMMIT2FIT |
“Women are going to form a chain, a greater sisterhood than the world has ever known.”
Girls Love 2 Run blog recap of
COMMIT2FIT ~ Grand Finale
― Nellie L. McClung
Last year, I met Fieke & Francien, bloggers behind Girls Love 2 Run in person.
Last Sunday, I had a "training reunion" with them!
First the flashback...
In February, 2013, I together with 4 other followers of GL2R were invited to join them in their training for core stability and mindful running.
My humble goal then, which I shared with the girls was to hold a plank for more than 30 seconds.
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| Girls Love 2 Run February, 2013 blog recap: CORE-STABILITY VS TRAIN YOUR BRAIN |
Short story:
Long story:
Happy Feet NL February, 2013 blog recap ~
TRIOfor2013 February Feature: Core-Stability & Mindful Running w/ @GirlsLove2Run
(all images below are courtesy of Girls Love 2 Run blog)
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| My best time after 16 days of planking: 130 secs (holding a low plank)! Currently on a good day, I can hold it strong for 150 seconds. By Day 20, I reached my personal goal of 5 minutes combi planking (see collage) collage from the #30DayPlankChallenge Album @ Happy Feet NL FB page |
2013 ended positively and 2014 begun with a determination to have an even stronger fighting spirit.
Aiming for perfection has the danger of eventually paralyzing one in the process from achieving one's goal.
Aiming to actively participate every day in life to be a better you, on the other hand, is from my experience, a perfect, if not the most ideal way to live.
There are so many reasons to celebrate being alive, and there are simply no reasons to waste time thinking of "what could have beens", only a great amount of time to invest on what you can be!
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| At the last quarter of 2013 I created event challenges @ Happy Feet NL FB page (#Running4Badges, #MorningMilers), and participated in different challenges myself [click on the link of the hashtags to check out the FB pages of inspiring people!] (#commit2fit; #100DayChallenge; #30DayPlankChallenge/#plankadaycozwhynot). |
I could not have attained this positive mindset if not for so many positive souls, and most of them I call soul/solesisters.
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| A collage of sisterhood - fun! - after the Sunday work-out |
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| The traditional "We got together!/We made it! We are da bomb (photo-bombed, too hahaha)!" photo-op... featuring from left to right: Fieke, one-half of GL2R :D, Eva @LittleEveGrows, Lianne & Udjen Liefste P was not fast enough to catch Francien when she posed in front of us on her way home! :D |
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| Well, everyone wanted to be in the group picture! BTW, this is a random dog on the way to the Vondelpark, and not Fieke's dog. :) (I was too hungry to notice, if the peeps walking him/her were watching us!) |
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| Soul/sisters everywhere! We stumbled upon Ada after our work-out. Amsterdam - Running Junkies territory. :D |
The above images show more than words can tell, why I love following GL2R. They renew for me each time the strong sprit of sisterhood: together strong; strong for each other!
The Commit2Fit Grand Finale in a few words...
The COMMIT2FIT Grand Finale work-out (please, click on the link for the detailed recap - in Dutch - of GL2R, on how the day went; it includes lots of pictures, that tells the story of our work-outs!), gave me a great feeling of coming full circle.
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| #NTCfit Nearly impossible alone is totally possible together |
It gave me the opportunity of actively acknowledging that a year later, I've improved in my core-stability work-out. Nowhere near being perfect at planking but - most importantly! - I have NOT GIVEN UP on trying to improve myself in this work-out.
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| My personal motivational poster to start off 2014 positively |
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| image courtesy of @debbycools http://instagram.com/debbycools |
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| image courtesy of GL2R |
Ironically, on the picture above, which GL2R shared on their recap blog, I am (upper right corner of the picture) not planking!
I was about to do a downward dog yoga pose to relieve my back pain after a series of 60 seconds planking.
Part of being a better and stronger me in 2014 is acknowledging at what point I should stop pushing myself, and knowing I can be better without proving anything to anyone.
Planking remains a personal challenge for me, and not a competition to be the best or better than anyone else. Each time is a personal challenge to be better than I was before,.
Constantly finding a healthy balance between pushing my boundaries and taking care of myself (and in the process my family!) remains my priority.
Personally, this is more of a challenge to do than planking!
