My Pretty Brown’s Highlights of 2016

Although this year came to a complete halt for me, there were a few highlights of 2016 that I wanted to share and just say…THANK YOU. My first is to my beautiful Mama and my family who always encouraged me on my journey as a distance runner. Being a woman with curves (plus-size) I never thought that I would be able to complete a half marathon (13.1 miles), let alone a full marathon (26.2 miles). But I did! After sharing my journey with readers, I caught the attention of Weight Watchers Magazine and I was featured in the May/June Issue for their I Love What My Body Can Do series which you can read about here. Thank you to everyone who supported me and went out and grabbed copies!

I was also featured on AL.com (thank you, Haley)! I was beyond excited about this because it went live on the eve of my blogiversary. However, just a few days later my life STOPPED literally—so I didn’t even have time to truly share all about it…but ICYMI you can read about it here!

I must have been on a roll in 2016, because I was also featured in the June issue of B-Metro (The Magazine of Metro Birmingham Living) for a column called, Run Like A Girl (Thank you, Javacia)! I feel super grateful that I had the opportunity to share my journey with her as well as B-Metro readers. I hope that my journey continues to inspire. Unfortunately, those hard copies are no longer on newsstands (don’t worry I grabbed a few)—BUT you can still read all about it here! I do plan to have a party to celebrate all of these wonderful moments soon.

 

I guess you can call this a different type of highlight. After one of the biggest losses of my life, I decided to start another blog called, Sarah’s Grace. It’s basically about “Chasing the New Normal”. I really started it because I needed a place to write my way to healing. I’m hoping through my transparency, I can help someone else and add a little light to their life as they walk through this journey called the new normal.

In December 2015, I did one of the craziest things (physically and mentally)—back-to-back full marathons. I became a Marathon Maniac bringing my total for the year to four full marathons, six half marathons, and one 10K. My body was T-I-R-E-D which is why I decided to take a break (i.e., not as many races in 2016). Even with everything that happened this year, I managed to complete the Mercedes Half Marathon for their 15th Anniversary and my fourth Mercedes Half, my second Princess Half Marathon, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Vegas #StripAtNight as a #RockNBlog Ambassador.

I even attended my first blogging conference, Blogalicious, in November. SO MUCH FUN! I spent an epic weekend enhancing my DOPEness while feeling empowered and ready to go into a new year filled with tons of inspiration. The sessions, the speakers, the connections made, everything was amazing! You should check out my recap from the Dove sponsored session on how to Speak Beautiful with keynote speaker, Luvvie Ajayi (New York Times best-selling author of I’m Judging You).

I shared in my previous post about making self-care a priority, and how important it is to spend time with my tribe (See Jane Write). Being a blogger/writer sometimes you just need that time to share ideas and creativity, have a glass of wine, talk about life, make-up (lol) or whatever! You walk away refreshed and feeling inspired. I was able to do more of that this year, and I was even happy that a few of the Janes attended Blogalicious with me. I look forward to more moments like these!

#Blogalicious8 with the Janes!

These are just a few highlights of 2016. I’m grateful for health, strength, and the ability to keep going even through life’s challenges. I just want to share this here since I shared it on my Instagram…don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can or can’t do. And don’t ever let anyone make yoy feel like you’re not “fast” enough, good enough, skinny enough…or whatever enough. YOU ARE ENOUGH! I’m forever grateful for every reader and supporter of My Pretty Brown Fit! I look forward to a new year full of fresh ideas, recipes (of course), and things that will inspire! Go after your dreams in 2017!

Happy New Year! Be FEARLESS. INSPIRE. TRANSCEND!