Mums are sometimes regarded as super-human because they are masters of multi-tasking. Yet being a parent or having a career should not stop us from making time for self-care.
Grace Sobania shares how she manages to stay fit despite the challenges she faces during these unusual times.
"My name is Grace Sobania, but people sometimes call me: 'Amazing Grace'.
I live in Melbourne and currently I am working as a District Nurse. I am a busy mum with two children. My interests are: travel, photography, running, workout at the gym and dancing.
My running journey started in 2013 from my first fun run, the Mother’s Day Classic. Since then, I have joined the Point Cook Running Club where I am attending Tuesday speed sessions, Thursday tempo runs, Saturday's 5km Parkrun and Sunday’s long runs.
My highlight was finishing my 1st Melbourne Marathon in October 2016. This was a very important day for me. I was running this marathon for my friend who passed away with brain cancer. When I was saying goodbye to him, I promised him to run my 1st Marathon in memory of him.
Unfortunately, I was then diagnosed with a hernia a month before the marathon started. My determination and promise was to go under private surgery as soon as possible and get a quick recovery to run for my friend. At the end I was so happy and thankful that I did it.
Since December 2016 when Medal Displays announced me as winner of Medals of The Month, I wanted to complete the Great Ocean Road Marathon. Unfortunately I couldn’t do it in 2018 because I was injured. This year again I started training again for full GOR, but the race was postponed and cancelled due to COVID-19. Hopefully my bucket list will be completed in 2021.
In 2017 I started running trails. I have run Surf Coast Trail, Wonderfalls Trails + and You Yang’s. So far I have completed 21 Half Marathons and my Medal Display extended to another 4 display hangers. This year I bought a professional road bike and I wanted to try duathlon races, but COVID-19 virus stopped us from real races and I started running virtually.
The virus doesn’t make me give up and I will make the historic COVID-19 Virtual Runs as a part of my self-quarantine routine. So far I ran 1075 km this year. Working as a nurse is very stressful at the moment and running helps me destress and clear my mind. To remember my COVID-19 races I bought a 2020 medal display hanger which I love and recommend to every athlete to memorise this year.
My Mood Board: Dream, Believe, Achieve.
I have chosen those images that best represent my life at present, which reflect on personal identity and my daily mood. Those pictures illustrate that I am always in motion and action. The running and daily exercises make me happy, energetic and determined. I try to achieve my dreams and never give up.
I will have bad days & good days, slow runs & fast runs, tough races & easy races but I will only have one journey!"
Thank you so much to Grace for sharing her journey so far with us! We particularly like how she describes Covid-19 Virtual Runs as "historic" because that is exactly what they are. In the future we will look back on these times and ask ourselves whether we let the circumstances stop us or whether we used them to become stronger.
Stay safe everyone and keep venturing forward on your journey!
Our mission is to help celebrate wins and inspire many more, by hanging medals properly.
Keep posting photos of your Medal Displays to our Facebook page or tag @MedalDisplays on Instagram for your chance to be featured and earn yourself a free Medal Display!
Plus, you never know who you might inspire!
We're super excited about this as we know that behind every collection of medals is an awesome story!
