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