Hello, my name is Meg! I am from Columbia, SC. I am 32 years old (is that right?). I am married to my best friend, Robert. We met over 13 years ago in Charleston, SC while we were in school.
I have always loved sports, staying active and being on a team. All 5’4” of me played volleyball in high school and loved every minute of it, even the two-a-day practices in the middle of August. There is just something about being a part of a team that is hard to explain that is addictive. While I was in college I continued to run a little here and there doing an occasional 5k. After I graduated I did much of the same until I got married in 2009.
Like most military couples we got married and then he deployed shortly thereafter. This was my first deployment as a spouse and I didn’t know what to do, or how to handle the stress. So a friend of mine convinced me to go to a CrossFit gym with her. I was addicted. I loved being competitive with myself, watching my body transform and the encouragement that I got from my friends and the instructors who kept pushing me to be stronger.
Once Robert was back from deployment, I moved to Fort Polk, LA, to join him. Not one of our favorite places, but we made some great friends there. From there we moved to Germany for three years and we loved it. We loved getting to explore Europe, experiencing different cultures, and meeting so many wonderful people that became our family away from home. During my time there I realized that I needed to make some health changes. I could no longer eat cookies for breakfast, Funyuns and a coke for lunch and mac and cheese for dinner and call it a balanced diet. This is when I had the pleasure of learning from my friends at www.In-Dependent.org, who taught me that I probably needed to readjust my thinking about what I ate and working out. So I started going to my friend’s yoga class and then also joining my friends a few times a week at a kickboxing class. As soon as I started sweating I got hooked again. This time though I was determined to get fit.
From Germany we landed here in Savannah, GA in 2013. At first I didn’t know what to expect or how to get back in the groove of working out. So it took me 6 months to find a yoga studio I enjoyed and to lace up my running shoes and get out the door. At this time in my life, let me just say, that I had not run a mile in many, many years. So I took it slow and started running a quarter mile and then slowly built upon it little by little, until I got comfortable running around 2 miles. And that’s when it happened, I got pregnant. This was my first pregnancy so I didn’t know what to expect or what to do. On top of that the husband had to deploy again. So… I did what I could, a little time in the gym on the elliptical along with a yoga class once a week and that is pretty much what I did throughout the whole pregnancy.
When I got pregnant, my friend Laura Reutinger told me about Stroller Strong Moms. She was living at the time in Columbus, GA and loved the group there. She said there was a group here in Savannah as well and that I should go and workout with them. I looked into the group – in other words I stalked the website and the Facebook page, and that’s when I knew that I wanted to be a part of this amazing group. My first thoughts were “man, can I actually do what they are doing?” and “these are moms, right?” They just all looked so fit and looked like they were having a blast while sweating their booties off.
So finally two and a half months after having my beautiful baby girl Caroline, I got enough courage to go to a class. It. Was. Awesome. I hadn’t sweated that much in a long time, I never felt so tired and worn out from a workout since I don’t know when. It was amazing. I couldn’t get enough of it. I started going to a class almost every day I could make it. I loved the workouts and I loved how the instructors provided modifications if necessary. I loved how the instructors encouraged me to push myself and challenge me daily. Most importantly I loved talking to the moms during (sorry instructors) and after the workouts.
To be honest it took me a little while to feel like a mom. The first few months it felt like I was just going through the motions, trying to figure things out and faking being a mom when needed. The stroller strong moms helped me to be more comfortable at being a mom. They helped me relax and become the mom I am today. I will be forever grateful to them for helping me to be a healthy example to my daughter.
This past spring, there was talk about Run Across Georgia (RAG). So one day after class while some girls talked about RAG and if you remember I stalked the SSM Facebook page last year so I had seen the pictures and was in awe. I knew that if I didn’t do it I would regret it, so I finally said it out loud to a few of them that I wanted to do it. Mind you, I am a slow runner that has never run more than 5- 6 miles. Not once did they tell me, no you can’t do it, they just said alright let’s get to training. To say that I felt like I was a part of something special is an understatement. I will never be able to adequately describe the feeling I have towards the 15 other women on our team who ran across this state. It was amazing to watch each of them run their miles and then cheer on the next person. Through 40+ hours we were there for each other, day and night, blood, sweat, tears, you name it we were there for each other. It was truly something incredible to be a part of. Each of them will forever be a part of me.
The same can be said for many of the other stroller strong moms that I work out next to each day. When I have struggled, or I am having a bad day, someone is there to crack a joke or to tell me to put my big girl panties on and deal with it. These women have become family to me and my daughter. They have literally carried me into the ER, stayed by my side, and told me not to worry about Caroline. I know I have said this several times, but they are just amazing. They are my role models and I am so thankful I have them in my life.
As of today I feel the best that I ever have and the healthiest. Not to mention I have the best mommy friends in the world (fact).
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