Incidental Athlete: I love a good story.

I love a good story, but not Snow White.

Snow White is not one of my favorite stories because of the ending. I don't like the idea of encouraging women to need a prince to save them from misfortune. This morning, I was watching Mirror Mirror, a re-telling of the Snow White story. It tells an ending that demonstrates strength in personal exploration, staying true to your values, and believing in yourself. When you do those three things, you no longer need a hero to save you, but become the hero yourself. A lovely re-telling.

I have determination, a ferocious sense of adventure, and a stuck-ness to my values that gets me in trouble occasionally. OK, often. This “believe in yourself” thing is still a new concept.

This past year, I spent a lot of time on my bike. More than 6,000 miles is kind of a lot, right? I spent the entire year figuring out how to believe in myself. I entered into several road races, and I slowly started to figure it out. I kept clicking off the miles and meeting my goals, one after another, after another.

It wasn't until the Bridge to Bridge ride that it all came together for me. This is a 102 mile ride, of pure hill (no pun intended), to the top of Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. All by myself. No teammates. No riding buddies. Nobody to save me from the work that must be done. Just me, my bike, and 6+ hours of pedaling. I got to the top, and I finally “got it.” All the times my coach, parents, John, and friends believed in me finally felt like a reality.

After finding this new belief in myself as an athlete and all-around powerful woman, I decided to apply to be a Vanderkitten VIP. Vanderkitten is a brand of stylish women's gear for women who want to make an impact. They also sponsor a pro women's cycling team. Their motto is: Extraordinary women doing extraordinary things. Pretty cool, yes?

Vanderkitten has done something really special by creating a VIP association for the every day athlete. They saw a need for a new kind of support in women's cycling and took action, creating a network of influential athletic women all over the world to support each other and support the mission of the Vanderkitten way: encouraging women to believe in themselves, be strong, and be awesome in everything they do.

Plus, Vanderkitten dreams to find a solution to gender discrimination in sport (did you know that women athletes earn LESS THAN HALF of what men earn? And for the SAME WORK? Ridiculous that this kind of discrimination still exists, not only in sport, but in the work force too).

Being a Vanderkitten VIP is kind of like being on a team of strong women from all over the world, who are like minded, have big dreams, and want to empower each other in sport and life. I applied to be a VIP, along with 2,000 or so others. Just a hundred or so were chosen...INCLUDING ME!!!

They chose me!!!

I was so excited I cried.

My adventures in weight loss, running, swimming, and cycling over the past few years have taught me so much about life, most recently about believing in myself. I am honored that Vanderkitten chose to believe in me and my mission too. I am honored to encourage women to be awesome in whatever they choose to do. I am honored to have the capacity to pass on the inspiration that helped me overcome my own barriers.

The dwarfs in Snow White knew the power of teaching Snow White to believe in herself.

Vanderkitten knows the power of encouraging women to believe in themselves in real life.

She will succeed.

Seemingly impossible obstacles will become possible to her.

She will make a lasting and positive impact on the world around her.