Chasing the light-giovana's story

Giovana and Deyvison reside in the Lakewood, Colorado area with 2 awesome girls and 3 cute dogs. They are originally from Brazil and had to fight their way to make their Colorado and American dreams come true.

Giovana-

Deyvison and I moved to Colorado February 2001, from Brazil. At the time my parents were not doing good financially and I did not want to ask for money, so we only had $700 each when we first arrived for our supposedly one year adventure in the US. We first had to find jobs to be able to pay for food, rent etc...then after one year we decided to stay longer, work and save some money, learn English and travel. By the 3rd year we decided to open a business.

(I'm noticing a trend here.. the fighters, with little money, typically are the ones that make it! Just like myself borrowing $1,000 from my brother to move to CO!)- Michele

Giovana did take up running the first few years in the US but it was very little  only 2-3 times a week, "Our work schedule did not give us much time to run/work out ..... Our first goal was to learn English and learn about the American culture, also send some financial help to my parents , it was not easy!"

"We are owners and founders of Deyvis Tree Care and a Commercial Cleaning Services, both businesses are going great and not only can we provide for our daughters and pups, but our extended family as well. Our schedules are pretty maxed out but we always try to keep the balance. We do this with family camp trips and try to make self care a priority as well. So when things became more steady, I was able to pursue my running and fitness goals."

" I heard about Michele Yates and Rugged Running at the Boulder shoe store in 2016,  I asked if they knew a running coach to refer it to me and they said I should call Michele because she was amazing .....so I started with Michele in 2016 and my goal was to became a stronger and better runner."

Giovana- "After only a few months of doing Michele's training I was running in a totally different way, I was feeling much stronger mentally and physically, but the most important thing that happened to me after joining Rugged Running was my self esteem, when Michele talks to me she has never said one negative thing about my running and my abilities, she of course lets me know how much I need to work in order to achieve my goals but always believing that I can do it. I did not have that before, back in Brazil while in the university I was always trying to run and participate in running events but unfortunately most people would tell me  that I should try another sport because I was not skinny and tall enough to be a runner, so I stopped running for a while and became a BMX racer. So being part of Rugged Running for me is awesome! I feel very lucky to be able to know and be trained by Michele, it is truly an honor. Today I feel that I run much stronger and faster than ever before, I enjoy every single training session that Michele tells me to do and I do my best to improve it."

Michele- Thanks so much for sharing your inspiring story Giovana! It's a blessing to not only coach you, but to have you as a friend now as well! ...well and not only you but your whole family!!! I can honestly say, I was never looked at as a distance runner. Probably still not. I'm built like a gymnast and even going into college coaches were turning me down left and right because my weight seemed "high," or they thought I was a sprinter. I think we showed them :) If you are strong enough to carry the weight, you can carry it all day long! However, there is some voice of reason here... once must still put in the work and find the balance.