Passion & Purpose:

 Hey all! My name is Shannon Schindler...I am a MOM on a MISSION!

I am committed women know their GREATNESS!!

The reality is this...I am no different than you...and...if I can do it...YOU TOTALLY CAN!! I applaud you for being HERE in this moment. The mere fact you are still reading this, tells me something about you. You have an eager want for something totally radical in your life!! YOU HAVE COURAGE!!

If You Can Do 3...You Can Do 13...This is what my friend told me mid May 2010 when she asked me if I wanted to train for the Lewis & Clark half marathon October 3rd....are you nuts??!! She had ran one half marathon in her life but was naturally athletic and worked out regularly... simply gorgeous. She had recently had a baby and was ready to shed the weight...with a goal in mind, surely it would be easier.

She says...Shannon...if you can do 3...you can do 13. I said, "um ...I can't run a city block!!" I was grossly overweight, hadn't been to a gym since I was 18, depressed and losing my mind...but I saw this as an opportunity...I had a glimmer of hope...

Training officially started July 12th...and STARTED at 3 miles....my butt had basically 6 weeks to be able to even get to the point that I was "qualified to train." This was the future I was living into....Would I? Could I?

The Power of Tiny Daily Incremental Changes

Where & how did I start? Out my door one early morning. See I had all the "good excuses" right??!!..couldn't be away from my family...they needed me....they wouldn't support this running thing...work full time job...blah blah blah...excuses right??! Us as humans we make shit up!! So anyway ...the plan was I would run before work. At the time I was getting to work by 7:30am with about a 40 minute commute...so IF I was going to do this running thing...it was gonna have to be early...

I don't know if you can see it or can relate...but at first... I felt like I didn't deserve or need this time. I was never a morning person...always a night owl....I was in a backwards way already setting myself up to fail

Yet I started small...I said if can get to 3 miles I guess I was in....at first I could only run a few second before I thought my heart was going to explode and I was gasping for air....it was pure physical. First the lungs then the legs...

Then it got mental....self sabotage....your too fat, too old, too out of shape, never done this before, how dare you be away from your family, when do you have time for this, your the underdog, your dragging them down....oh....that ugly place we go...ever been there???!!! Maybe you are there now...just hang on for the ride...you can't have breakthroughs in life without breakdowns!! Oh the beauty on the other side!!


And then about a month into small daily attempts to run 1 minute, to 5 minutes, to 10 minutes to 20 minutes...there came a shift...like woweza....I'm actually doing this!! The chains that once held me back in every area of my life began to break....

In less than 5 weeks I was running a steady 3 miles at a moderate pace with little to no major discomfort....and I have never looked back.

What did it take? Courage, determination, persistence, hope and a couple of buds along my side holding me accountable to show up and run. It wasn't always pretty, trust me...but we did it...we honored a commitment, followed a schedule and took a stand for our life, our bodies and minds....

I found me out there on the streets...pounding the pavement at 4:30am with my dog...shedding the layers of pain that I carried around my belly. Then us girls would meet on the weekends for our "long run"...me hunkered down with my head phones blasting and them chit chatting away...see it didn't matter how we did it...as long as we did it...IT WAS THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION.

So I invite you to join us for this FUN, FLIRTY & FABULOUS 5&5...do something maybe you have never done...so you can be someone you have never been!! We are creating a community who listens to you and knows you only as EXTRAORDINARY!  Be lifted up, meet new friends, have fun & get your SEXY back!