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barre3 Studio Owners Run NYC Marathon with Every Mother Counts
We’re beaming with pride over here. Two of our Atlanta studio owners—South Buckhead owner Katie Schrier and East Cobb owner Izabela Amos—are teaming up to run the New York City Marathon to raise money for our nonprofit partner Every Mother Counts. Read on to get to know these two inspiring women, and be sure to cheer them on during race day!
barre3: The New York Marathon—that’s huge! What are you most excited about?
Izabela: I’m so excited to meet the team from Every Mother Counts. It’s such an inspiring group of people, and their mission to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother is so important. I’ve run other marathons before—in fact, this will be my 12th—but this is the first time I’m running for EMC. I’m so proud of that.
Katie: This is my first marathon, so I’m really excited about the personal-challenge aspect. But more than anything, I’m thrilled to be running for Every Mother Counts. They told us they’d give us a tank top to wear during the race, and I was so pumped about it that I called to see if I could get mine early. I wear it during my training runs to help motivate me.
barre3: Can you tell us a little about your running background?
Izabela: I grew up in Poland, and I loved running around my neighborhood as a child. I ran competitively in elementary school and high school, and then in the States I got back into it when my husband bought me a fancy new pair of running shoes. I started slow—three miles, then five—and eventually worked my way up to marathons. I was actually training for the Olympic marathon trials when I interviewed to become a barre3 owner. Now, I do about two marathons a year. For me, running is like going home.
Katie: I’ve been running for a while now, but I’ve never done anything beyond a half-marathon. Running a marathon was always on my bucket list, but sometimes putting something on your bucket list makes it easy to keep pushing it off, saying you’ll do it someday. I’m excited that I’ll actually get to check it off!
barre3: Running 26.2 miles requires some serious training. How has your barre3 practice helped you prepare?
Izabela: Without barre3, I might not be running at all. I first found out about it when I got acute tendonitis from running so much, and my doctor told me I had to take care of my glutes and my core. I learned that barre3 is great for strengthening both those areas, so I started taking online classes. I was truly surprised at how quickly my body got toned. The strengthening and toning you get from barre3 is such a great combo for runners.
Katie: Barre3 had a profound impact on my body when I started teaching years ago, and it brought my running to a new level. I used to have low back pain, but thanks to barre3 it’s gone. I use the alignment tools we teach in class when I’m running, and I use my glutes more than ever because they’re so much stronger now. Even on an emotional level, barre3 has helped my running. We always talk about how we’re on a journey to advance our barre3 practice, and I now think of running in the same way.
barre3: Every Mother Counts has such an important mission. What draws you to the cause?
Izabela: I feel so lucky to have access to good health care for myself and my family, but not every mother has that. EMC’s efforts to change this are so important. In running we talk about hitting the wall, where your body just crashes and can’t go any farther. There are mothers out there who hit much bigger walls every day when they can’t get prenatal care or don’t have access to a hospital to deliver their babies. I know I’m really lucky, so I want to give back in any way I can.
Katie: When I first heard Christy Turlington’s story about how she had a close call herself during childbirth and wouldn’t have survived without modern medical care, I was so moved. I just kept thinking, she lives in a wealthy nation and has incredible health-care resources. Imagine what it’s like for women who don’t have that kind of care. I feel like life is such a precious gift, and if there’s anything we can do to help give someone that gift, we should. It gives me an immense sense of pride that I can represent barre3 in this way.
You can pledge to support Izabela’s EMC fundraiser here and Katie’s here. And if any of you are running the marathon with them, tell us in the comments below.
We’re beaming with pride over here. Two of our Atlanta studio owners—South Buckhead owner Katie Schrier and East Cobb owner Izabela Amos—are teaming up to run the New York City Marathon to raise money for our nonprofit partner Every Mother Counts. Read on to get to know these two inspiring women, and be sure to cheer them on during race day!
barre3: The New York Marathon—that’s huge! What are you most excited about?
Izabela: I’m so excited to meet the team from Every Mother Counts. It’s such an inspiring group of people, and their mission to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother is so important. I’ve run other marathons before—in fact, this will be my 12th—but this is the first time I’m running for EMC. I’m so proud of that.
Katie: This is my first marathon, so I’m really excited about the personal-challenge aspect. But more than anything, I’m thrilled to be running for Every Mother Counts. They told us they’d give us a tank top to wear during the race, and I was so pumped about it that I called to see if I could get mine early. I wear it during my training runs to help motivate me.
barre3: Can you tell us a little about your running background?
Izabela: I grew up in Poland, and I loved running around my neighborhood as a child. I ran competitively in elementary school and high school, and then in the States I got back into it when my husband bought me a fancy new pair of running shoes. I started slow—three miles, then five—and eventually worked my way up to marathons. I was actually training for the Olympic marathon trials when I interviewed to become a barre3 owner. Now, I do about two marathons a year. For me, running is like going home.
Katie: I’ve been running for a while now, but I’ve never done anything beyond a half-marathon. Running a marathon was always on my bucket list, but sometimes putting something on your bucket list makes it easy to keep pushing it off, saying you’ll do it someday. I’m excited that I’ll actually get to check it off!
barre3: Running 26.2 miles requires some serious training. How has your barre3 practice helped you prepare?
Izabela: Without barre3, I might not be running at all. I first found out about it when I got acute tendonitis from running so much, and my doctor told me I had to take care of my glutes and my core. I learned that barre3 is great for strengthening both those areas, so I started taking online classes. I was truly surprised at how quickly my body got toned. The strengthening and toning you get from barre3 is such a great combo for runners.
Katie: Barre3 had a profound impact on my body when I started teaching years ago, and it brought my running to a new level. I used to have low back pain, but thanks to barre3 it’s gone. I use the alignment tools we teach in class when I’m running, and I use my glutes more than ever because they’re so much stronger now. Even on an emotional level, barre3 has helped my running. We always talk about how we’re on a journey to advance our barre3 practice, and I now think of running in the same way.
barre3: Every Mother Counts has such an important mission. What draws you to the cause?
Izabela: I feel so lucky to have access to good health care for myself and my family, but not every mother has that. EMC’s efforts to change this are so important. In running we talk about hitting the wall, where your body just crashes and can’t go any farther. There are mothers out there who hit much bigger walls every day when they can’t get prenatal care or don’t have access to a hospital to deliver their babies. I know I’m really lucky, so I want to give back in any way I can.
Katie: When I first heard Christy Turlington’s story about how she had a close call herself during childbirth and wouldn’t have survived without modern medical care, I was so moved. I just kept thinking, she lives in a wealthy nation and has incredible health-care resources. Imagine what it’s like for women who don’t have that kind of care. I feel like life is such a precious gift, and if there’s anything we can do to help give someone that gift, we should. It gives me an immense sense of pride that I can represent barre3 in this way.
You can pledge to support Izabela’s EMC fundraiser here and Katie’s here. And if any of you are running the marathon with them, tell us in the comments below.
