Mom on the Run--Woman of Steele

It’s been awhile since I’ve sat down to write.  I’ve been non-stop busy with Christmas prep, family, and a busy work schedule.  Therefore, blogging unfortunately has taken a back seat.   I am finally sitting down to write about my last 2 races and what I’m doing during the off-season. After finishing the Madison Marathon in November, I took 5 days off afterwards to just walk.  I didn’t do anything else.  It was really nice and a nice break mentally and physically.  I started running short distances after that.  The farthest I’ve run since the marathon is 8 miles.  That seems like such a low number after training for 26!   Anyway,  I ran in my little town of Milton’s Turkey Trot for the first time this year.  It’s only taken me living in Milton for 9 years to run this race.  It’s an unofficial race and it’s free.  You just have to bring in a non-perishable food item for the food pantry.   So I woke up early on Thanksgiving morning to run up to the park where it began.  

You guys!!!  I ran my second full marathon!!!  And I beat my time by 7 minutes!!!  I am still in shock several weeks later that I actually did it!  (And that it’s taken me this long to write about it!)  I didn’t quite make my ultimate goal of under 5 hours, but I was super close with a time of 5:04:03!!!  Can you believe it??? Here’s how it all went down: The family and I drove up to Madison on Friday night to get my packet at the Expo.  We hung around the Expo looking at the different booths, hanging out with fellow runners, and making signs. My kids made the greatest signs for me for race day! Such a pretty sight! There signs are so cute!  I love how supportive they are! We went to Pizza Ranch for dinner afterwards which is always a nice carb-loading trip.  I tell ya their pizza and chicken are the best.  We recently went to Mac’s Pizza Shack which is a local restaurant and their pizza is good but just not quite as good as Pizza Ranch.  They have so many dif

As most of you know I love to read.  There is not a point in time where I am not currently reading multiple books whether for pleasure or for school.  I guess it’s a good thing I teach reading for a living!   My mom recently gave me her book to read, The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines from Fixer Upper .  I absolutely love Chip and Jo!  I am obsessed with watching their show as well, and reading their book only makes me love them more as a couple.  They really remind me a lot of my husband and I.  Chip is goofy silly and always tries to make Joanna laugh.  Jay does the same thing with me.  Chip has a million projects going on a one time and so does Jay. I’m very conservative and reserved most of the time like Jo.  I’m a penny pincher and planner like Jo.  Chip and Jo compliment each other like Jay and I compliment each other. October 18, 2016 HarperCollins Christian Publishing Well, I’ve been really enjoying this book and have a super hard time putting it dow

As part of my training plan this go-around, I decided to run a half marathon two weeks before my full!  What was I thinking?  I guess I was thinking that my training plan called for 12 miles so why not run 13.1 for fun with a bunch of other people and get a cool t-shirt and medal in return! So I did it! I ran a half marathon on Sunday October 30 with my fastest time of the year!  Not a PR but the fastest half this year with a time of 2:22:07!  Not too shabby considering I was starting to taper! This was the first time I had run this race and I really enjoyed the course.  It was pretty flat with one giant hill at mile 8.  They had the option to run a full marathon and you loop with this course, so you would have to run up that hill twice.  I might actually consider running the full course next year!  I must be crazy saying this a week before I run my second full marathon.   Anyway, packet pick up was the day before the race at the Hilton Garden Inn where we stay for my

This is probably one of the best blog posts I get to write! On Sunday, September 25, my mini-me and I ran the Henry Vilas Zoo Run Run!  It was my 4th time running it and it was my mini’s first time running this race and her 2nd 5K ever!  She was awesome!   We had planned to run this race since July and we spent lots of time planning our outfits.  This year the theme of the race was Predator V. Prey and you could choose to run as a Zebra or a Lion.  Mads and I decided to run as Zebras.  We also were able to start the race a few minutes before the lions!  The goal was to not get eaten by the lions!  It worked for a little bit! I went on Amazon to look for Zebra leggings and Zebra costumes almost immediately after registering for the race.  I was able to purchase leggings for both of us and a combo headband with ears and tail set.  We were to get headbands at the race but I didn’t know that when I ordered these.  Plus they didn’t come with tails!  I couldn’t find tanks for us to