Welcome to rUnladylike! After many months of dreaming about starting a blog – and then many more working to get it ready – runladylike.com has officially launched! Today is an exciting day because it’s the first of what I hope will be a long and fun journey together of sharing running adventures, connecting with and learning from runners across the country and setting and achieving big goals!

My name is Jesica D’Avanza and I’m an everyday runner living and working in Atlanta. Running has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. It was passed down like a family tradition from my dad who was an elite track and field athlete. He instilled in me at an early age the expectations of striving for excellence, working to my full potential and believing I always have more left to give. Today, I’m on a mission to keep challenging myself to be better tomorrow than I was yesterday and to inspire other runners to do the same – by embracing our unique abilities, charting our own course and making our own rules.

The running blogger community is an incredible group of people who I’m motivated and inspired by every day. So why should you add rUnladylike to your list?

These are my promises to you:

• This blog is for anyone who has an interest in living healthy and striving to be better tomorrow than you were yesterday. It isn’t just for runners. You don’t have to be fast (I’m not). You don’t have to have completed a zillion races or even 1 race. It’s for people looking to be the best version of themselves because everyone has the potential to be extraordinary.
• I will always share my honest, real and uncensored (aka unladylike) adventures about what running teaches me about life and what life teaches me about running. All of the opinions expressed on this blog will be my own. I will always be truthful and will not be influenced by outside sources. If I ever write about products or brands, it’s because I use them regularly and believe they make me a better runner or triathlete.
• I am FAR from perfect. I’m not a certified expert in, well, anything. My only claim to fame is that I’m really just like everyone else who’s trying to make it all happen without making excuses. Although I plan to share stories about overcoming barriers and achieving small victories, I’ll also admit when I fall off the wagon and feel challenged to follow my own advice.
• This blog will not be a catch-all for anything on my mind. It will always be focused on fitness and health, with a primary emphasis on running. My goal is to post 3 times per week with content that is visual and adds value to your everyday life and training efforts. rUnladylike isn’t meant to be a personal running diary for me alone; it’s meant to be a shared journey that helps all of us achieve our goals.
• When I say this blog is about my uncensored adventures, it also means I will not censor your thoughts or comments. Although I have to approve first-time commenters to ensure you aren’t spam, once approved, your comments will never be moderated. Unless there is severe profanity or discriminating language that would be highly offensive to my readers, you will always be encouraged to share your true feelings and thoughts. I want to know what you think – even if it’s unladylike. *wink*

I hope when you read my adventures, you’ll feel inspired and motivated. You’ll believe you’re capable of things you never thought possible and will share that with the world. You’ll know you can achieve any goal you set your mind to if you’re willing to work for it. You’ll figure out that it doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing or how fast anyone else is going. You’ll only compete against yourself. You’ll rUnladylike. And you’ll join me in the conversation. Here we go!