Annual Sounds of Silence 5K Run/Walk and 10K Run
for Pregnancy and Postpartum Depression and Anxiety Awareness
Learn More about the Sounds of Silence 5K Run/Walk & the Postpartum Resource Center of New York here.
I will be walking/jogging with my son and some friends to help raise awareness for Pregnancy and Postpartum Depression and Anxiety this year.
Why do I do it?
Because I have Postpartum Anxiety and Rage.
Because I am working through it and healing.
Because I know other moms who are working through their own Postpartum Depression and Anxiety.
The Sounds of Silence 5K Run/Walk is dear to my heart because of my history with the organization it benefits, The Postpartum Resource Center of New York.
I've been volunteering and running fund raising events in their benefit since the early 2000's with my church.
This 5K is one of my favorite events to participate in because of how local it is and how much those who participate can actually see they are making an impact.
I prefer to donate my time and efforts. I do feel that I can make a bigger impact on others and on behalf of others.
I've come to realize, especially since having my son, that I'm making an impact on myself and my family.
5Ks have always intimidated me. I forever thought to myself that walking one would be so silly and that should strive to run it. And that I wouldn't do one until I could run that distance.
I'd still never have had done a 5K to this day if I listened to myself.
It was my pastor who convinced me to go to my first one. And while I didn't go again for a few years, I'll never skip one now (how could I when you can participate virtually now!).
While we were all in isolation in 2020 and I was 8 months pregnant, the Sounds of Silence 5K Run/Walk didn't cancel, but went virtual!
The first thing that comes to mind is everyone getting on a VR game or a video call and doing it together. But no, you were able to pick a date in a specified time frame and do your 5K based on the honor system.
Pick a place to run/walk, then track and time yourself easily with your favorite fitness tracker app and submit your results before the deadline.
It was perfect! I was able to go walk on the beach with my sister and our friend.
Yes, 8 months pregnant!
I kept these ladies quite concerned the entire time, but it was definitely an experience and worth it!
I don't even remember how I came up with the name but I know that I had my mom in mind when I did.
While she didn't experience Pregnancy and Postpartum Depression and Anxiety, she had been through so much more than the average person and she just kept on truckin' through life.
Every time I say the team name I hear an echo in my mind - like "just keep swimming" 😂
Now in the thick of postpartum myself I feel that I can relate it to 'just finish the damn thing.'
I am in no way conditioned to run a 5K and just barely to even walk it. So I keep on truckin'.
Walking on the beach in NY South Shore sand felt like truckin' through mud and at 8 months pregnant I was sluggish - so I kept on truckin'.
Walking with a 10 month old who wanted to walk on his own or be carried the whole time and me with most of the baby weight still felt like truckin' through smog, it was hard work - so I kept on truckin'.
Now daily being a mom, a wife, an entrepreneur and whatever else, I keep on truckin' through each day.
Team Keep On Truckin'
My race bib is going to say "I Walk For Myself"
I was worried that I'd sound vain in doing that but it might just be the most honest thing I have put out there.
I am walking the 15th Annual Sounds of Silence 5K Run/Walk for myself because I needed help in my postpartum journey.
I walk for myself to remind myself that this is meant for me to share with others.
To be outspoken about maternal mental health and show other moms that they can walk for themselves too.
To remind myself why I started Mama Outspoken.
To remind myself that I Am A Good Mom.
Why would anyone who isn't a mom, or who doesn't know someone who has/had Pregnancy and Postpartum Depression and Anxiety, or who never experienced it themselves walk or donate?
Well, why not? You probably didn't know about it... better yet, that mom might not have even known.
I think since we were all in isolation maternal mental health has gotten some attention. But it's still so hush hush, unrecognized and undereducated.
I didn't get the support I had hoped for from my mom and mother-in-law, they just didn't know, they couldn't relate. Instead I got it from people my own age (friends and strangers alike), people who are in the industry and the Postpartum Resource Center of New York.
But not everyone has those kinds of resources or has those relationships.
Imagine if we all participated in walks and fundraisers like this and talked about why we do it. We may never have a generation moving forward who didn't know how to help a mom or family in need again.
