Thank you runners

By
MRTT Little Black Dress Night

A new PR - 1:42:52 (and yes I wore the tutu for the whole race!)
I got my new personal record (PR) in the 1/2 marathon at the Whistlestop 1/2 Marathon in Ashland, WI last weekend! I ran a 1:42:52, which is over 13 minutes faster than I did my last 1/2, the Gary Bjorkland 1/2 Marathon in Duluth in June! I finished 80th overall out of 1206 finishers, 6th (out of 108) in my age group and 23rd overall for females (out of 805)! Most importantly, I felt like I was flying and I ran faster than I ever imagined I could.
At the Whistlestop 1/2 marathon finish line with all my fans (and JoJo)
Me, Jaclyn and Sara at the Gary Bjorkland 1/2 Marathon in June

While running is a personal accomplishment with personal goals, it would not have been possible without the help of so many people.

Thank you to the race day volunteers who are out there on despite the bone chilling cold and early morning time, supplying us with water and Powerade, and cheering for all of the runners.
Thank you to the pacers for keeping us on time and moving forward.
Thank you to my fellow runners for building an amazing community and inspiring us to run and meet that goal - faster, further, and stronger. (These pictures are only a few of the smiling faces I get to see every morning!)
Thank you spectators for cheering for the crazy lady in the tutu when you have no idea who I am. You gave me that extra push when I needed it most.
Thank you Duluth MRTT (Moms Run This Town) running club for meeting each week, no matter how hot or cold, how rainy or snowy, how dark or early. Our miles are filled with joy, laughter and encouragement. I couldn't do it without you!
Thank you to the Real Congdon Cougars for pushing me to show up on the corner of Aspenwood at 5am when I feel like sleeping in, for being me therapist and friend, and for texting me good luck and to say congrats after our big runs. Thank you for ladies nights and birthday parties. You ladies keep me sane and I am so lucky I found you! You know who you are.
Thank you to my family for understanding my goals and dreams, holding me accountable and being there to celebrate with me at each finish line.
Thank you to my husband for supporting me day in and day out, never complaining about my training and picking up most the chores because I fall asleep reading books to the kids by 8pm because of 5am training runs. Te amo mucho!

 MRTT training run selfies:




All my amazing Moms Run This Town ladies (minus a few) who ran the 1/2 marathon with me!

Little black dress and running shoes for the win!




My pacing buddy Tammy Licari!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Downtown, downtown!

By
Image
Benziger Family in Chi-town 2019 Downtown What you see is what you get girl Don't ever forget girl Ain't seen nothing yet until you're Downtown Have you heard the song,  "Downtown, downtown" by Macklemore? Our one trip this summer was a long weekend going downtown - to Chi-town. A quick 1 hour direct flight from Duluth makes it an easy get-a-way with lots of great restaurants and cultural opportunities for the big and little kids. Luck for me, our Thursday night flight was delayed two-hours so that I finished reading all my echocardiograms and cleaned out my Epic in basket with just enough time to spare to get home, change clothes, finish packing and leave our house exactly 1 hour prior to flight departure and still drive to the airport, park, check a bag, get through security, and buy some candy before the plane started boarding! Gotta love the DLH international airport! "Long" security lines at the airport < 1 hour prior to flight...
Read more

Welcome to the world baby Theo!

By
Image
   Our little baby, Theodore James, was born at Swedish Hospital in Seattle last week. He was born early because mom developed some preeclampsia which necessitated his sooner-than-expected delivery. Boy was he a peanut - weighing in at 5 lbs. 9 oz.! He had to spend a few days in the Infant Special Care Unit because he had low blood sugar and needed IV fluids and frequent blood sugar monitoring. He was such a champ and tolerated the heel sticks without a peep and didn't mind the continuous heart rate and oxygen saturation monitoring either. We were lucky that he had a full time nurse watching him so we could get some sleep those first nights but then we quickly became accustomed to his rigorous schedule of feeding every three hours - 3, 6, 9, and 12 around the clock to maintain his blood sugars above a certain level. After four long days in the hospital, we were discharged home. Since coming home, I'd say this was the longest week of my life as it was full of new ...
Read more

THEO is 12!

By
Image
Theo in the Grand Tetons at sunset Theo pointing to Lake Haiyaha in Rocky Mountain National Park where he had hiked the day before Give me a T-T,  Give me an H-H,  Give me an E-E-,  Give me an O-O,  What's that spell? THEO! Our baby boy is 12. From 5 lbs, 9 oz and 18 inches to over 90 lbs. and 5' 4", he's not such a little peanut anymore. He enjoys playing lots of sports - soccer, basketball, volleyball, disc golf, mountain biking, and gaga ball in gym. He loves swimming, tubing and knee boarding at the cabin. In the winter he loves sledding at Holy Rosary and skiing at Spirit Mountain. He's in his 6th year of piano with Ms. Roberta and wants to do the drums in middle school next year. His dream day is to play Fortnite all day and night with his friends. He's kind, competitive, and funny. He's a good friend and does very well in school.  Theo winning the golden boot at his last tournament game for Gitchi Gummi Theo's birthday interview What's your n...
Read more