Category: Just Leap

Just Leap: Staying Active Through Pregnancy

I knew it instinctively. There were subtle signs: an increased sense of smell and the way I needed to catch my breath earlier and more often when running, biking, or simply climbing up stairs.

I was pregnant.

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That weekend we went camping in Fruita, CO for a mountain biking trip and it was there—before ever taking any kind of pregnancy test for confirmation—I experienced for the first time a complicated set of emotions around being active during pregnancy that I would be (and still am) navigating for the next nine months.

Along with the excitement and fear (terror, really) of bringing a new human into the world, there was a deep desire to hold onto my independence and claim that pregnancy wouldn’t change my activity level too much.

And then there was an acute sense of protectiveness that seemed to contradict that desire for independence.

What was too much? When could I push? When should I pull back? What was truly safe? How would I know if I was pushing too much? How would my activities effect this growing and vulnerable being?

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Just Leap: Finding a Sense of Grounding on the Road

I caught the travel bug early. Looking back, there are a number of circumstances that helped shape my love of travel.

The first, and probably most important were my parents. Both teachers, they had the summers off with plenty of time to explore. Add in their interest in historical sites with a lot of relatives living in various parts of the country, and we had a myriad of options for places to go.

grounding1Living on teachers’ salaries, road trips were our chosen mode of transportation. I still remember my sister and I exploring our brand new Dodge station wagon the summer we set out for California (from Maryland). It had secret compartments in the very back and we spent hours playing back there as the miles swept under us. (This was, of course, in the era when laying down in the very backs of station wagons was acceptable.)

We’d come home from our summer trips tanned, salty and happily tired, ready for the school year to begin. I loved sharing our stories with my friends those first days back, showing off the rocks I’d collected or the scars I’d acquired. But I didn’t think too far beyond the tangibles as I quickly got caught up in the current assignments and experiences of the new school year.

Each school year seemed to serve as an anchor for us, allowing us to set aside daily worries and responsibilities a few weeks each summer and let go and surrender ourselves to the experience.
As I got older, graduated from college, and set out in the world, summer road trips faded into memories, yet the urge to travel and explore was never far from my consciousness.

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Just Leap: What Is It About The Running Skirt?

I bought my first running skirt in 2006. I was training for my biggest race yet, one that I’d been training for for two years: The Pike’s Peak marathon. As someone who’d just started running a few years before that, I knew I wanted something special. This particular race had been on my radar for awhile.

Just Leap! author Amy C. finishing the Pike's Peak Marathon

Author Amy C. crossing the finish at the Pike’s Peak Marathon

“If I can run Pike’s Peak, I can do anything,” was my thought process. To me it seemed like the biggest, baddest, most insane race anyone could dream up. Why would anyone voluntarily run up a mountain?!? But I was fascinated (and curious) about it and wanted to see if I had what it took to run it.

I didn’t set out to buy a skirt. I didn’t even know they existed, but when I saw this Run Around Skort hanging up in the new Boulder Title Nine store, I was intrigued.  I’d been unhappy with shorts and how they fit me. Nothing I found seemed to both look and feel good.

I tried on the skirt.

It had lightweight mesh boy shorts underneath with a convenient zipped pocket in the back.

I fell in love immediately.

 

I wore it on that first race and was surprised at how many comments and compliments I got from the other racers, and I was delighted with its performance. Over the 7+ hours I was running, I never once felt any chafing, bunching, or other discomforts I’d experienced with regular shorts. But there was something more to it than simple performance – I felt different. Thinking back, it was a lot like when I connected with my Inner Badass last summer in the Grand Canyon: this running skirt showed me that I had more strength, courage and confidence than I ever thought I had.

The idea that femininity and sport were not mutually exclusive of one another, and that, in fact, they became very much intertwined was liberating. I felt more playful and curious about what else I could do physically. I’d spent so much time concentrating on my training and goals that I’d forgotten to have fun.

And the skirt? The skirt was fun. I found myself jumping and hopping from rock to root along the trail—despite my fatigue and pain. And smiling!

Ever since that race, I wear my skirts (of course I have more than one now) as often as I can when I’m playing outside. It’s not that I don’t feel strong or have fun when I’m in shorts, but when I wear a skirt (or a dress)—especially when I’m engaging in physical activity—that enhances the experience. There’s just something about that extra dose of feminine power and sense of play I connect to when I’m in a skirt.

What about you? What’s your skirt story? Love them? Hate them? I’d love to hear about your personal experience.

 

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Amy Christensen is a certified life coach with a passion for adventure and helping women discover and tap into their own adventurous spirits. Based in Boulder, CO, her company, Expand Outdoors, focuses on helping women get outside literally and metaphorically: to step outside their comfort zones, take more risks (the healthy kind) and live a richer, more fulfilling, active, adventurous life. Subscribe to Expand Outdoors and receive a free guide to the 10 essential elements for everyday adventure.

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Just Leap: Life and Learning How to Surf

Growing up, my walls were covered not with the teen idols my friends adored, but will surf posters. Kelly Slater. Brock Little. Laird Hamilton.

I loved the sport surfing and often dreamed of being on the water inside a wave. But despite being able to boast I’d been surfing in three oceans, I’d never actually gotten up on the board, or been out more than a handful of days.

And by “surfing,” I mean I paddled a surfboard into the water of the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and the Tasman Sea, but never really got the hang of it.

The reality was that the waves scared me. I was much more comfortable diving under them and playing in them without a board. And without a mentor to help me learn the ropes, I was pretty clueless about how to get out; how to get through them; how to pick the right spot; and how to paddle into them. (Not to mention how to pop up, balance and keep my feet on the board before tumbling off.)

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Just Leap: Get Into Your Own Groove

I lined up at the starting line alongside eight hundred other runners from all over the country.

Nervous energy permeated the air. I jumped up and down to keep my blood warm. The moon rose over the summit of Pike’s Peak and as I looked up, admiring the beauty with awe at nature’s gift, I felt trepidation settle in my gut as I thought about the 26.2 miles of single track trail, not to mention the 7,800 vertical feet ahead of me.

I’d run this race before and this year, I had a plan. It’s all about the pacing.

When the starting gun fires, we all take off. I have placed myself in the middle of the pack and begin jogging slowing and steadily uphill towards the trailhead. It feels like everyone ahead of me is getting further and further away and everyone behind me is passing me.

I stay steady and strong. Despite my desire to push myself faster, I hold back. I know what’s coming.

Sure enough, as we hit the steep hill just before we get on trail, I begin passing.

And one by one, I continue to pass all those who had passed me and were now worn out less than a mile into the race. (more…)

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