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“We had been in and out the hospital so many times and thank God for my mom's my rock. She's my best friend. She was with me through everything. So she knew that I needed to start running again for like my own mental sanity.”

This week we feature Francesca Barbetta ( @5ammommyrunner on Instagram) because she is truly inspiring. And while her accomplishments & day-to-day commitment are so inspiring as a mother runner, it’s what she has overcome that is arguably the true inspiration.

While many on Instagram may know her as the mom who wakes up way too early to run far on a treadmill with her three littles at home—what they don’t know is the how and why she does it.

That’s what we wanted to get reveal. And Francesca was graciously so honest with us sharing how her life was on a total different trajectory.

She shares:

-how running saved her when she was in the depths of postpartum depression and anxiety while navigating a serious medical condition with her baby

-how she does those early morning runs and what helps her stay energized throughout the day

-the biggest lessons in her postpartum running journey

-& what she wishes every mother runner (or woman in general) would stop doing.

Francesca’s journey is a true story of adversity.

Big thanks to this episode’s sponsors:

Lagoon Sleep save 15% with code MOM at lagoonsleep.com &

Happy Curves save 10% with code MIlesMoms10. On Amazon

Please don’t forget to leave a review & check out our Patreon.com/mileswithmomspodcast

About your hosts:

• Whitney Heins is a mom of 2 kids, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. IG: @themotherrunners.
• Shanna Birchett is a mom of 6 kids six years apart, including twins. She returned to running in 2022 after an 11-year break, running a 2:44 marathon in the summer of 2024. She is the co-founder of Endure 365 running, endure365.com, which offers heart rate-based training plans. IG: @motherhood_running.
• Tricia DeNardis is a mom to 3 young kids and a physical therapist specializing in the pelvic floor, pregnancy and postpartum rehabilitation. After running 10 marathons, Tricia completed her first 50k in the fall of 2024, and is now hooked! IG: @burpeesandburpcloths.
• Olivia Garcia is a mom of 2 young kids, who used to work as a paramedic. She fell in love with running in 2019, despite surviving a marathon that didn’t go according to plan. With a 2:57 PR, she's cut more than an hour off her marathon time. IG: @watch_oliviarun...