RACHEL COLEMAN is a runner, hiker, skier and super-mom. While her most important job is being a mom, she also has a successful career as a singer-songwriter and she is the co-creator and host of Signing Time, an Emmy nominated television and DVD series that teaches children to communicate using American Sign Language (ASL).
As the mother of Leah, who was born deaf, and Lucy, who was born with cerebral palsy and spina bifida, Rachel’s primary fitness goal is to continue to strengthen her body so she can show her children a world where anything is possible. The only way 9 year-old Lucy can experience the world beyond her wheelchair is if someone is strong enough to carry her there. So when Rachel’s trainer asked why she wanted to get fit, Rachel responded, “I don’t need to be skinny. I don’t care if I lose any more weight. I just really need to be able to dead-lift 50 lbs over and over and over, every single day of my life.”
Although Rachel’s fitness goals weren’t focused on appearance, she has gone from a size 14/16 to a 2/4 in the past two years through weight training, running and healthy food choices. She feels her biggest accomplishments in life are not the ones that will ever be rewarded with medals or applause. The biggest accomplishments are moments like these with her daughter:
“In August, I was hiking a steep trail in Yellowstone with Lucy on my back, we had just seen a beautiful waterfall. I was breathing hard but still working my way up the trail. Lucy leaned in close and whispered: ‘Mom, this is what you are training for.’ And Lucy was right. There really is no finish line. We are training for life.”
RACHEL’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- Ran the Las Vegas Rock ‘n Roll Half-Marathon with a group of friends from across the country who read her blog and were inspired to come run with her (December ’09)
- Lifting and carrying Lucy through three days of rides and fun at Disneyland (August ’09)
- Completed the Salt Lake City Half-marathon (April ’09)
2010 GOALS:
- Complete the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in April “barefoot” with a team of blog readers and cyber-friends from around the country
- Summit King’s Peak, elevation: 13,528 feet (The highest point in Utah)
- Summit Mt. Whitney, elevation: 14,505 feet (The highest point in the lower 48)
- Train for and complete her first triathlon “I’m not a great swimmer and I just got a road bike, but why would I let that stop me?”
- Complete a 5K with Lucy on her back
PERSONAL MANTRA: I don’t have to be the strongest mom in the world, just the strongest mom in Lucy’s world.
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