Getting Wings

It’s a Wonderful Life; the perfect Holiday season movie, with a new double meaning for me. Of course one of the most memorable parts of the movie is about Clarence, the wing-less angel that saves George Bailey. As we learn during the movie, every time a bell rings, it’s a sign that an angel got their wings. Eventually Clarence gets his wings, and everyone lives happily ever after. While I’m no angel (I won’t even pretend that I am), I did find out that I will in fact, be getting my very own pair of “wings.”

For those of you that are scratching your heads, let me explain. No, I’m not getting literal wings, learning how to fly a plane, or anything of the sort. Rather, I’m one of the newest members of the Oiselle Running Team! If you’re wondering just what that is, they recently did an excellent blog post explaining what exactly it means to be an Oiselle team member. To make a long story short, I will be racing exclusively in Oiselle gear, essentially as an apparel ambassador.

A little background: Oiselle (pronounced wa-zell) is a women’s apparel company started by Sally Bergesen that makes functional (and cute!) women’s running gear for the everyday runner that wants to, as they say, go fast and take chances. The name is French, and means “bird” (hence me getting my ‘wings’). I first stumbled upon Oiselle about a year ago on Twitter. I was immediately taken by their involvement in the online running community, quickly replying and engaging with followers. I even participated in their #FastFriday and won an Aero tank – my first piece of Oiselle gear! I immediately fell in love (hello shirt pocket!), and knew the brand was something special. It wasn’t until this past fall, though, that I realized they had a racing team, and that I could potentially be a member.

I’ve always been drawn to individual sports that have a common team goal, hence my 12 years of swimming. I was always competing with myself, but at the end of the day that competition was just a small part of a bigger picture; a team. While I’m an introvert by nature, I’ve always strived and thrived in team environments; there is just something special about a group of people that share the same passions and work towards the same goal, while ultimately bettering themselves. So after being team-less for 4 years, I was itching for that same feeling I had grown to love. Since I’ve hung up my swimming goggles for running sneakers, I was thrilled when I learned about Oiselle’s team. Just following the team interactions on Twitter had me enamored by the camaraderie and support the teammates provided one another. I knew deep down that it was just what I needed to take my running to the next level – that extra push to get me out the door when I don’t want to, and to confidently toe the line on race days.

Finding out that I made the team was the perfect way to end a tumultuous, but PR-heavy running year. I’m so excited to represent Oiselle at my upcoming races, and equally pumped to connect with and get to know even more awesome runners. I’m ready to go fast and take chances, with my wings out!