Jade Dean: I like showing that Moms can be fit too!
May 12, 2018
How do you balance being a mother of two with training for an event like The D10?I signed up for The D10 literally one week after my second son was born, as part of a commitment I made to carve out some time for myself amidst the craziness of motherhood. Looking back, it still seems crazy to me that I signed up so abruptly, but I’ve even surprised myself with my newfound discipline. Now I can look forward to celebrating the completion of The D10 alongside my youngest son’s first birthday in the same week in June.
It’s been 14 years since I did training like this. I ran the 400 in high school. What I did not anticipate was that 14 years away from the track equated to 14 extra seconds on my time. That was a very humbling experience. I’ve already shaved seven seconds off that, and I’m hoping to drop it further. As a mother of two, I have to fit my training in at odd times. I might get 45 minutes or an hour, during one part of the day or another. My kids’ sleeping schedules are all over the place. The majority of my workouts happen at night once they’re asleep, and then I try to get to the track on weekends. It’s really easy for me to find reasons to not do this, so my new mottos have become “find time” and “no excuses.”
My elder son, Caleb, will be three in August. He really loves this whole experience! Sometimes when I’m working out he’ll get on the rowing machine with me. You don’t want to interrupt your workout, but sometimes you have to stop and just take some video. Cole, who turns one the week of The D10, isn’t into it in quite the same way yet. He loves following his big brother around. Although they’re too young to remember this, I can’t wait to tell Caleb and Cole all about it when they’re older!
You’ve had incredible success in your fundraising so far. What’s your secret?
Being a Mom and doing something like The D10 has been surprising for most of my friends. I like showing that Moms can be fit too! And that you don’t have to be 25 to compete in something like this. For my 32nd birthday last month I planned a rowing class at Row House NYC. Thirty of my girl friends celebrated/trained with me for the day, and 90 percent of the people who participated have donated to my D10 campaign. People really enjoyed getting to participate in this thing they kept hearing me talk about.
The other thing about fundraising, the social media part, is that I’m not afraid to embarrass myself. Before the Broad Jump was announced as an event, I was training for the Dips, and I put up a video of my husband saying, “C’mon, just get one.” I couldn’t do it! But in the next video, I was up to 18. It’s important to be relatable. I’ve been trying to post throughout the whole process, so people can see the work that goes into it.
What does the cause of pediatric cancer research mean to you?
My mother’s a breast cancer survivor. Friends and colleagues have gotten various challenging diagnoses. But as a parent myself, I cannot begin nor would I want to imagine the emotional and physical toll of finding out your child has cancer. You think about a child, the most innocent person in the world, and as a parent, you have zero control over this disease. It’s so hard to fathom. This makes The D10 that much more important. Every workout and all of the sacrifices over the past 6 months have been for a purpose much bigger than me.
Jade Dean is Director of Real Estate at Uncommon Schools. Follow Jade on Instagram, and help her break into the 10K club by donating here.