I love to run! I love it for so many reasons! I love that it doesn’t cost anything… I can just put on my shoes and head out the door and start my exercise for the day without having to pay a gym membership. I love to see myself improve. When I want to conquer a new race/distance or increase my speed, I follow a training plan that is usually a combination of speed intervals and increased mileage and I see results! I love my running group! They motivate me to get out of bed and get my run in early before the rest of my family starts their day AND they provide entertainment! Before most of the world gets up I’ve gotten my exercise and my girly gab session out of the way!
One thing that running does not generally lend itself to a 36 year old woman, who is too old for the track team, is to be part of a team! I’ve always thought friends on tennis teams seemed to be having so much fun, but have not found a way (yet) to work this into my family’s hectic schedule. That is why I was so intrigued when I learned of the ultra-running relays that are becoming so popular! In Texas the biggest relay is the Texas Independence Relay (the TIR).
This year 150+ teams competed in the TIR, a 203 mile, 40 leg relay ran from Gonzalez to Houston, Texas. I sponsored and was part of the 11 women (all mothers) relay team, Fear Me: I’m a Mother! For 30 hours and 1 minute my team carried a baton while running across Texas in a pink tutu- that tutu never stopped!
By day 2, with 2 hours sleep and 3 legs averaging 5.5 miles each, I was so emotional and moved. I teared-up every time one of my team mates handed off to a fellow pink tutu! They were so inspiring. These women pushed themselves to their limits not only better themselves/their own physical fitness, but for our team!
Someone asked me why I chose to sponsor the team. What does running have to do with jewelry? After contemplating this over my part of the races, which was 4 legs totaling 20+ miles, I can tell you exactly. First of all women love to exercise and they love jewelry so there is a very common link. But even more than that this company that I have become a part of, bamboopink by JudeFrances, is very similar to my TIR team, “Fear Me: I’m a Mother.”
Within bamboopink I am an individual INDEPENDENT sales consultant. The results/rewards I will receive from this company will directly relate to the financial and jewelry rewards I get out of the company. Similar to my running performance… no one can get out there and do my training mileage for me…if I do not get it done, I will not improve! However, I can lean on my team for support! If I hit a rough spot with this new business, maybe encounter a new internet marketing tool that I’m not familiar with, I can reach out to the friends I am making along the way and ask for their help as I would hope they would ask for mine! My running group cannot run my races for me, but they can be there to meet me at 6 in the morning when I don’t feel like getting out of bed, they can inquire about my progress and show up for races to cheer from the sides when they are too injured to run!
I treasure running for both the level of fitness it has brought to my life AND the new relationships my team/group has created. I am also thankful for bamboopink! I truly believe my family is going to see great financial reward from the efforts and work I am putting in to this new company. I am also thankful for the team that bamboopink has brought into my life. I am so excited to work with this new team made up of old and new friends, family and business associates in my life! As Andrew Carnegie said, “teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” Get ready, the uncommon results that our bamboopink team produces is going to knock your socks off!
End note: Our Fear Me: I’m a Mother Team finished 6th in the Open Women’s category with a finishing time of 30 hours and 1 minute, and a pace of 8:52. We ran through over 30 mph wind, uphills, on scary dark roads at midnight with 2 hours of sleep and had a BLAST! Thank you to my fellow “Mothers” for providing me with a weekend I will never forget and to my husband for coordinating with our family and friends in Dallas who made sure the little people in our lives had a fun, safe weekend and got to all of the places that they were supposed to be!
Meredith in Miami 