Runners are used to obstacles. Lately, many of us have been running in freezing (or below freezing) weather. We climb hills, dodge mud puddles, keep an eye out for traffic and use whatever means necessary to avoid getting sick.

Some of us have cute obstacles, like little children. When my boys were little, they often came along on my runs in a jog stroller. But it’s been so cold up here in Pittsburgh, running moms can’t safely take their children out for a run. So this week I helped a fellow Pittsburgh running mom who is training for her first Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run by watching her young baby while she got in her first virtual training run.

Some of us have not-so-cute obstacles. Ali, the runner we mentioned in our first blog post “Lucky to be Runners,” has already overcome some big injuries. This week she hit some really bad luck and fractured her foot. She has two very small fractures and no bones displaced. She has to wait two weeks to see how things heal. There’s not much I can do to help her with this obstacle except sympathize and suggest my least-favorite upper body and core exercises.

Several years ago, I had almost given up on running completely because of a physical obstacle. But something inside wouldn’t let it go. And the 2011 Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run was my ten-mile victory lap.

You know what I mean, don’t you? As a runner, you’ve overcome some big obstacles of your own. Kids, work, injuries, weather…you’ve been there and done that. So pay it forward! Share your biggest obstacle and how you tackled it and turned it into something that made you tougher.

-Elizabeth, @epagelhogan

Elizabeth is a writing mom on the run and logs her miles in Pittsburgh, PA. She was a 2013 Social Runner for the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run.