#FitGirlMagic: Jade Stevens

We met this month’s Fit Girl Magic star, Jade Stevens, in 2017 at an Our Family Dinner event in Los Angeles. Our Family Dinner is a non-profit that host family inspired citywide and neighborhood-based dinners to build community in major cities all over the world. Sitting across from Jade at that dinner led to a great friendship and another fit friend we always look forward to working out with.

Jade is also the definition of “booked and busy.” Despite a very full scheduled, she just ran the Los Angeles Marathon. Get into everything from her fitness journey, to her first marathon experience and what’s next on her to-do list.

When and how did you fall in love with the fitness?

I took gymnastics and dance classes when I was young, but I didn’t really stick to it. I then went on to play soccer and loved it. I loved the competition, the skill and the spirit of soccer and stuck with it all the way until college.

After college, I found myself looking for a social fitness community, but had trouble finding groups. That’s when I decided to create something myself. So I joined a few friends and hosted weekly workouts on the beach. I’ve since gone on to participate in obstacle course races, 5Ks and now a marathon.

What motivates you to live a healthy lifestyle?

My family has had a history of diet related illnesses . Also throughout my life, I’ve come in contact with people who wish they had the opportunities to do something fitness related. I lost my grandmother to breast cancer and in her final months, I remember asking her what did she miss doing. She mentioned she missed walking and working out with me. We used to do Zumba. It reminded me that tomorrow is never promised and to be healthy enough to do the things we love is truly a gift.

What aspect of health, fitness or wellness do you feel is your biggest challenge?

Lately I have been associating my fitness with something I’m training for. I’ll stick to my workout schedule and healthy eating habits because I have something to train for. After I finish the race, my discipline goes out the window. Sure one cheat meal or day is fine, but weeks on weeks? No ma’am. I’m trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle even when I’m not training for something.

When you are not picking up weights, you are...?

Sleeping. Seriously, I try and get as much rest as possible due to my hectic schedule. Good sleep allows my body to recover. Maybe it’s in my head, but I notice positive physical changes when I sleep well and not so positive physical changes when I don’t get good sleep.

What was your motivation for running this year’s LA Marathon?

I was already thinking about running because one of my good friends had mentioned that she would be running her last marathon this year. I wanted to run with her so that we could share that memory. My boyfriend had also been pressuring me every year to sign up, so he and his friends literally pulled the registration website up on a laptop placed it in front of me and pretty much told me to just click the submit button. The rest was history.

You are pretty active, but this was a new challenge. How did you tackle it?

It was extremely intimidating. I’ve never considered myself to be a long distance runner and never thought I would run a marathon. After I signed up for training with a running group, I remembered looking at the training schedule and dreaded the idea of having to run 20 miles. However, I remember thinking to myself that I just wanted to finish. I didn’t want to hold myself to a certain time to beat. I just wanted to finish. So I continued to show up and became amazed to see how far my body could go each time I increased the miles I had to run for training.

What was your biggest challenge?

I am a freelance marketing consultant, a part time college professor and an MBA student. So making time for running, was very difficult. I had to be really strict and block out time to run every day because I could have easily skipped running to do something else. However, I made a commitment to myself to do the marathon so I knew I couldn’t let myself down.

Early on in my training, I thought I was more conditioned for running than I actually was and ending up getting really bad shin splints. It was so painful, that I felt like I couldn’t walk at times let alone run. It was very discouraging because I felt like there was no way I could keep up with training. I made the hard decision of taking two weeks off from training so that I could recover and start to slowly rebuild. Throughout the entire time I felt like I wasn’t going to make it to marathon, because when I started to run again, it was still painful and I didn’t think I would ever fully recover.

Looking back on it now, I think taking two weeks off was the best thing I could have done for myself. If not treated properly, shin splints can lead to bone fractures that will require much more serious medical attention and surgeries. I ended up running the marathon with no pain in my shins.

Describe the vibe of the marathon?

The vibe was contagious. You come out on the starting line seeing elite runners take off. You then join thousands of people at the starting line. You’re running through different neighborhoods all around the city and seeing each neighborhood’s personality. Each mile usually has a group there to support giving water, gels, beer, mimosas and even chili dogs.

You are running with all kinds of runners and it reminds you that you can do it and that you have so much support around you. I was motivated to keep going so I could get the cool medal and so that I could really say that I ran from the Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica. I enjoyed seeing people that I knew cheering me on and wishing the best for me.

What’s the next goal you are looking to crush?

In April, I will be doing a Ragnar race which is a running relay. I’ll be running with a team of 10 people from Huntington Beach to San Diego.