At Sport Seasons, we are passionate about fitness and about our customers. We are very excited to introduce Stephanie Surratt, long time Sport Seasons customer and serious local runner. We are partnering with Stephanie to help promote family fitness, to encourage and inspire, and to remind all of us to never give up. Stephanie will be sharing her story and inspiration through weekly blog posts and other projects. Welcome Stephanie!
I want to take a minute to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about why I am partnering with Sport Seasons.
I am a 35 year old Nashville native. I am married with four children and I have a full time job in sales. I am an avid runner, I love it and it is definitely a passion of mine. I have been shopping at Sport Seasons for almost 25 years. I first came in with my father when I was in middle school, he would always buy his running shoes there. Then when I began to drive, I would come in for shoes and workout apparel for myself. Every Christmas I would go pick out some Pittsburgh Steelers gear for my dad and brother. Here I am decades later, and I am still walking through those doors. Now I am there not only for running shoes, but for the kid’s soccer cleats, baseball gear, Titans apparel and more. What I love about Sport Seasons is that through all these stages of the last twenty plus years, they have always been a place I can rely on to go get what I need with no hassle. Another thing that I have always found special about Sport Seasons is that it is a locally owned family business, not a big corporate chain. I still see several of the same faces I saw there when I was 16 years old. As a teenager, a young college grad, and now as a mother with my own family, it is and always has been the perfect place for me to go.
Like all working moms, my life is extremely busy. I get up daily at 4:15 to run, it starts my day off right and clears my head for the whirlwind hour of getting everyone ready for school (Possibly my least favorite hour of the day!) On occasion my runs can be earlier if my kids have early games or if I have a meeting at work. I have been known to start a 20 miler at 3:30 am on a Saturday just to make one of my children’s 8am games. Regardless, I am going to run. There are few minutes in the day that are minutes for me and this is time I will not give up.
After I began having children I became competitive with myself and my race times. I decided that I needed my own personal goals in order for me to be a patient mother and wife, as well as a role model for my children. I also knew I needed to set goals in order to keep myself interested. So I slowly chipped away at my time and started placing or winning my age group. This year I ran my fastest full marathon (3:29 in the pouring down rain) and my fastest half marathon (1:34) ever.
This April, after 3 qualifying times over the last 5 years, I will run my first Boston Marathon. It has been a long road to get there but I am finally doing it. It is a dream of mine, and I didn’t give up. I have proven to myself that an average, everyday person like me can achieve big goals, even after all these years.
Running means so much to me because it truly is a guide on the path of my life. So many times I have read the quote “Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it”. For me that holds true. It symbolizes the strength I have to get through anything, strength I often forget I have. Starting my day off with a run reminds me of that. So while I definitely run to look good (and to avoid the dreaded mom jeans), I run to feel good. And after all, isn’t that what we all want…to feel good?
So partnering with Sport Seasons makes perfect sense. Although a lot has changed in my life, I am still shopping at the same family owned sports store I shopped at 25 years ago. I have come full circle since I first came in with my father 25 years ago, and Sport Seasons is still here. It is a place where I can encourage sports and physical activity now with my whole family, so we can all feel good.
I will be doing a weekly blog about running and other topics that coincide with it, and hopefully I will get feedback from other runners as well. I look forward to working with Sport Seasons and hopefully using our relationship to raise awareness around good causes and to encourage other people to never give up on achieving their goals and dreams.
I saw this quote and I loved it.
“The real purpose of running isn’t to win a race; it’s to test the limits of the human heart”
-Bill Bowerman, track and field coach, co-founder of Nike
Running is an amazing way to inspire yourself. The great thing about that…… is that inspiration is contagious.
~ Stephanie Surratt
Awesome blog! Glad to see you support a local runner!
Now that is one motivating mama!