Learn what mother strength really looks like for these pro and everyday athletes balancing parenthood and their own goals.
Are you a runner?
Your fastest days are behind you.
Better not try it.
All those outdoor adventures youve dreamed about?
Well, you should have checked them off your bucket list before your kids came along.
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This, my friends, is what it means when you hear the term mom strength.
Elisabeth Akinwale, CrossFit athlete
Elisabeth Akinwaleis kind of a big deal in the CrossFit community.
Her career highlights include several weightlifting records, including a425-pound deadlift and a 240-pound clean and jerk.
When my son was three years old, I took on a major life change.
Want to work out like Akinwale?
Feller says mom strength is hard to describe but easy to spot.
When you become a mother, however that happens for you, your entire world changes, she says.
From that moment on, youre nevernota mom.
Its something I strive for every day.
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Do I fail, often?
Do I plan on giving up anytime soon?
Hell no, says Feller.
She recalls a moment last summer when she interviewed 2018 Boston Marathon winnerDes Lindenwhile Annie watched Paw Patrol backstage.
That, to me, was a total this is itthis is the dream moment, says Feller.
Is traveling cross-country to run 26.2 miles with a 4-year-old in tow easy?
Being a mother has changed my relationship with running and with my body in such drastic ways.
All the best ways.
This goal was picked at random, and Runyon says theres a lesson for her children there, too.
I just love the idea of making big dumb goals that dont really matter.
And then just going and doing the thing just to do it, she says.
It doesnt have to mean something more.
You dont have to do things for any other reason than to have fun.
Ive not been shy about it, but I also havent said it outright.
By then, Runyon had already begun gender-affirming care to begin her transition.
Im in a better place and happier than Ive ever been, she wrote.
Her children, Avery (eight) and Zoe (five) dont have to call her mom.
So if you want to call me mom, call me mom.
If you want to call me dad, call me dad, says Runyon.
They still call me dadand thats just because my older daughter said, I want to call you dad.
Ive always called you dad.
I feel like thats a title that I earnedand Im proud of that.
And then there are other times that they call me Mom randomly, and thats fine.
Im just happy to be a parent, says Runyon.
After running her first 26.2 in 2008, Stanley-Dottin took a nine-year hiatus to have children.
Then I was on mom duty.
(Remember that sub-3-hour race?)
And so, thats one thing.
Then I think of what it takes mentally, how were all juggling so much.
Making space for training for a marathon is essentially another job.
I travel to my races.
Im trying to manifest every time.
Its the one thing I can be intense about for me, not for anyone else, she says.
), she says that she really loves sharing her training and racing accomplishments with her kids.
They come to her races and witness her putting in the daily work required of elite athletes.
Thats going to stick with them?
So I think of it that way.
I hope they see the motivation that comes with training hard for something, says Stanley-Dottin.
As of now, Austin and Jett are majorly into basketballbut who knows what the future holds?
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