Mom on the Run--Woman of Steele

Ok before I get into the details about running the Fort Atkinson Half Marathon, I want to announce that by running this half marathon, the Madison Half Marathon, and the Parkinson’s Half Marathon within a 90 day time period, I qualified for the Half Fanatics!!!!  For those of you who may not know what this is, it is a group for runners who love to run Half Marathons.  There are different levels at which you can qualify and once you do you pay a membership fee and can then create a profile on the website.  Then you can connect to other Fanatics, look for races, and buy some awesome Fanatics swag!!  I cannot wait to purchase my first shirt and wear it to my next half marathon!  (Next half is the Madison Mini in August so I’ll have to order soon!)  I am so stinking excited to be a part of this group!  Half Marathons are literally my all time favorite distance.  It is challenging enough and yet I don’t feel like I was hit by a bus when I’m finished! ...

Here is an update on the garage project once again.  There’s only been a few days of excitement but it has brought about lots of new thoughts and projects to tackle once the garage is completed! On June 17 the concrete company came back to backfill the trenches around the concrete walls. This took most of the morning and my kids were excited to watch it with Nana.  I was sadly at work, but it’s ok.  Maddie and Nana were excited that the person driving the loader was a woman.  She worked really hard and did work that I wouldn’t want to do.  I commend her for doing it. I am also thankful that I didn’t have to do it.  I am thankful that I don’t have to do any of this work, to be honest!! That next week the builders came to start on the walls.  On June 21 they framed out the walls and took off the siding.  The kids and I were gone for most of the day as I had summer school in the morning and then an eye doctor appointment in the afternoon. ...

So my hubby and I have been going back and forth for years about when we should build a garage.  And after our dreams of owning the empty wooded lot behind our house were shot down when someone bought it and built a house on it last year, we knew the time for the garage was sooner rather than later.  I was still worried about the money but my wonderful hubby assured me that it was going to be okay and he was taking care of that part.  Really this is his project.  I haven’t really had much to do with it at all.  He’s asked my opinion on a few things but this is his baby and I am happy to let him have it.  With that being said, I have been more stressed out about it and anxious about it than he has!!  I am such a dork about spending a bunch of money and get huge buyer's remorse when I pay a lot of money for anything, yes even when I buy my running shoes!   Anyway, my hubby started looking for builders in April and we finally picked one the begin...

Hi everyone!  How is everyone doing? It certainly is a busy time of year right now!  I’m super busy with end of the school year stuff, we’re getting ready to have our garage built, and I’m getting ready to teach summer school for the first time ever!  I’m a little nervous about that, but mostly excited.  But that’s not what this blog post is about! For the second year in a row, I am doing the Conquer the Capital 45.5 challenge in my capital city of Madison, WI.  This challenge involves running the Twilight 10K Saturday night May 28 and the Madison Half Marathon Sunday morning May 29; as well as the Madison Marathon November 13.   The weekend of May 28-29 was part 1!  This is the 3rd year I have run the Twilight 10K and I absolutely love this race!  It is a great course; challenging with the hills, but running up the to the finish line seeing the capital building all lit up, makes all the hills and hard work so totally worth it.  It was...