Running the Race

Michelle Nott reflects on her experience of a challenging fitness class and relates it to her motherhood and faith.

Fitness has become a way for me to fill my own cup each day. That one hour a day is a time that I can just focus on the exercises for that class and not worry about everything else. 

This year, my gym started offering HYROX workouts, and this past weekend, I completed my first full HYROX simulation at my gym. 

For those not familiar with HYROX, it is a popular fitness competition comprised of 8 different exercises, with a long run between them. It can be done as a solo event or with a partner. It is very much an endurance event that tests your physical strength as well as mental strength. 

I completed the simulation last weekend with one of my friends. The whole week leading up to it, we both were feeling nervous. We had been training for it since January, but the running portion for the actual event is longer than what we normally do in class. Once we started, the run felt hard and long. But little by little as we completed each of the strength exercises and another run, it got easier. I remember thinking on the last run we did, “I can’t believe this is our last run already!”

Life Is a Race

Why am I writing about my fitness event in a space about motherhood and faith? I think that there are a lot of parallels between them when we look at our motherhood and faith journeys. 

I remember the excitement I felt when I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I also remember how nervous I felt when I got closer to giving birth and when I found out I was pregnant again with each of my children. There have been times that have felt difficult in both my faith life and motherhood: navigating expectations of motherhood and the reality of what life can be like with 6 young neurodivergent children; living with depression; experiencing anxiety; and suffering loneliness in church.

 And then, there are times where I felt really prepared for everything because I had done the “training” before; I had given birth before, so I felt more prepared. I had been going to Mass, Adoration, reading books about saints, building a strong prayer life, and going to Confession. 

My life is full of ups and downs, and some days and seasons feel a lot heavier and tougher than others. Sometimes I’m great about keeping up with prayer and the sacraments; other times it can be a struggle. Some days I feel like I’m doing the best I can as a mom, and other days I feel like I’m too quick to lose my patience. 

Finding a Community

One way the HYROX simulation felt easier to me was having a group of people cheering us on. There were water tables that offered relief. And then the celebration at the finish line with friends coming up and congratulating us, my family and kids cheering me on.

A community makes a huge difference in our faith life and motherhood, too! Having a solid community to rely on for support is a necessity that I realized I had missed out on at first. We all need people to cheer for us in all areas of our lives. We all also need to be cheerleaders for our friends and family and other community members.

Life is a journey to the ultimate finish line: Heaven. And I can only imagine how sweet the celebration will be when I (hopefully) will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I know there are still ways I need to improve my life to get there, but I’m up for the challenge!

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Copyright 2026 Michelle Nott
Images: Canva