The Heartbreakers are a collective of people who run - a group as wide ranging as that sounds. Leadership, speed, and generosity of spirit come from all corners and create the culture of the team. One of our team captains, Mary Beth (MB), is never afraid to use herself as an example.
I talk a lot about acknowledging where you are and training from that place. We can only be where are after all. Mary Beth shared the below in our team forum. It's a personal struggle but it's also a reminder for teammates in the same boat.
MB gets it. She understands what the team's about even though she came to running later in life. She gets it so much in fact, she got the tattoo! MB's first tattoo was also Heartbreak's first tattoo. She says it's reminder that she can do hard things.
Here's MB (screen-grab from our private team forum):
"Best Team - I'm dealing with imposter syndrome so it's time to come clean.
I successfully completed the NYC Half Marathon yesterday and had a blast doing it. The weather was great and the people were fantastic. Several times I was cheered on with "Go Heartbreaker!" which gave me the energy I needed.
Here's the confession - despite following the HB plan, I struggled early on with the long runs. (The frequent easy runs were fantastic- did strides most days, dynamic warmups, etc.). But 8 miles and above were difficult and weighed heavy on my running ego. At one point I was going to defer until next year but doubted it would be easier then. So I implemented a run/walk intervals plan - you know, the thing that we have to do if we're returning from injury and counting the weeks until our doctor says we don't have to do it anymore? I voluntarily did that. Immediately my long runs were doable. 8, 10, 12 miles - no problem. I did intervals yesterday and successfully completed the NYC Half.
But I couldn't bring myself to tell any of my Heartbreakers that I was using intervals. It felt like I was cheating or not being a real runner. After having 2:37 hours to think about it yesterday, I'm now feeling that I did exactly what we've been coached to do: Run in the body you're in. Walk when you need to. Run with joy. And proudly wear your Heartbreaker shield and bright red laces to get the job done. Done and dusted! 💔💔"
