After having my baby, I felt stuck in my training. I was following a program that promised results, but each workout drained me, leaving me more exhausted than fulfilled. I thought I had to stick with it because I had goals and desires. Some of those are tied to an old version of myself that I tried to reclaim. I used to be the person who could do anything: climb all day, hit the gym for hours, go for a run, and take the dog for a hike… all without a second thought. But that person no longer existed. I was now a mom. I needed to a routine because great levels of fitness are possible postpartum. Trail runners run for the love of trail running, I needed to find that.
Balancing the demands of motherhood with trying to stay active and the rigid approach to fitness wasn’t serving me anymore. I realized I was exercising for all the wrong reasons— chasing after an image of who I used to be instead of embracing who I was becoming.
That’s when I discovered trail running. It took the competition, pressure, and dread out of my training, and replaced them with freedom, joy, and a deep connection to nature. I no longer felt the need to keep up with a program just because it promised certain results. Trail running helped me reconnect with movement in a way that felt sustainable. It reminded me that finding your love for movement doesn’t have to look like what everyone around you is doing. Your fitness journey might look different than what’s popular in your gym or social circle, and that’s okay.
Just move
Movement IS medicine. Finding something you love makes you far more consistent than any rigid training plan or hostile coach ever could. As we spend so much of our time doing things we have to do — work, laundry, grocery shopping, dishes — why make fitness another chore to simply complete, rather than something to enjoy?
When I embraced this mindset shift, I realized that my fitness didn’t have to be about checking boxes. It’s about feeling alive, vibrant, and deeply connected to my body in a whole new way. I got back to running for the love of trail running. Trail running became my escape, my therapy. And now, my goals feel more aligned with the present version of myself, someone who wants to move not just to achieve, but to thrive. I dot it for the love of trail running, and I hope you can find a similar passion in any type of movement.