In case you’re new to the New Balance Girls Night Out (NBGNO) events, let me give a little background on them: New Balance hosts these “girls night out” events about once a month as a way to get women together for a night of fitness, inspiration, empowerment and healthy eats and clean drinks. They range in topics and I’ve been to the #Laceup365 one in honor of breast cancer awareness month and the “healthy while on the road” one featuring the Westin’s fitness programs. Those recaps are here:

My first New Balance Girls Night Out event
NBGNO Event- How to Stay Fit While on the Road

This most recent 2015 kickoff event was something I was really looking forward to, not only because of the theme of the event, but because my gym/blog/in real life friend, Athena, was the host/emcee! The theme of the night was “Body Breakthrough” and as I’ve had a lot of discussions with Athena on this and ones she’s been having over the past couple of years, I knew she would do an absolutely fantastic job leading the event and sharing her story.

Added bonus of the night? A bunch of our gym friends came!

The night started with some mingling and then we split into two groups: half stayed and did a ReXist360 band workout with Shay Kostabi (New Balance Fitness Ambassador <— lucky!!) and another group of us headed out on a run. I was asked to be a pacer, so Athena, Dani and I headed out with the group to do a 3.75 mile run around the Charles and through the public gardens. While it wasn’t cold it wasn’t entirely warm either, so I was happy we kept at a pretty decent pace! I was able to chat with Athena and another gym friend, Kaylin, and the miles flew by.

 

When we arrived back at the store, we were greeted with loads of healthy appetizers, Essentia Water, juices from Thirst Juice Co. (SO good!) and adult bevvies. Since I was not feeling well, I stuck to water and a few snacks.

From here, Athena and Shay shared their body breakthrough stories. What I loved most about their stories was the passion behind them. Each girl had their own story to share for why they are as passionate about health and fitness and finding your own strength and it was incredibly motivating, moving and empowering to listen to these stories and their words of encouragement! I think it’s so important to tell your story because for people just starting out on their path of health and fitness, it can be discouraging to see all these people already in their groove and making it seem so easy. Hearing about others trials and fails and successes and things learned over the years during their own path of health and fitness helps to put things into perspective in your own life, right? We’ve all got different journeys and sometimes we just need a little motivation from someone who might have already gone through what we are going through. Athena shared a really great recap here where she goes into more specific details about her body breakthrough moment- absolutely worth a read if you haven’t read it yet!

Once Athena and Shay finished sharing their stories, we had a chance to mingle some more.

And another perk of these events? Some sweet swag to take home!

I wore this tank to the gym the other day when I ran and I felt so strong and ready to tackle anything. #girlsrunthistown

Stay tuned for the next NBGNO event and make sure you sign up right away because spaces fill up FAST and it is NOT an event you want to miss!

Questions for you: Have you ever been to a NBGNO? Have you had a “body breakthrough”?