Dream Big: Reviving my Marathon Dreams!

As we celebrate Stress Less Week starting April 17th, I thought I would take a moment to share one of the ways I take care of me in the midst of deadlines, mommy stress, busy schedules and stressful workdays. My favorite way to relieve all the stress is running. I'm not fast. I'm not out to win a race.  My win is getting the chance to clear my mind.  My win is the energy I feel after jump starting my day with a run or pausing in the middle of the day for a jog on the trail or feeling a sense of accomplishment at the end of a runcation (running vacation).  It gives me that moment to center myself, re-energize and also, connect with others I enjoy being around. Why is running my choice for self-care?  Let me count the ways... 1.  Running gives me permission to spend 30 minutes to an hour alone and free from mom duty, housework and job responsibilities for that moment in time. 2.  Running also gives me a way to connect with my husband and children by making some runnin

   The family traveled with me for this race since it was a little further away.  We discovered a gem I didn't know existed: Semiahmoo Resort, pretty much right next to the Canadian border.  It was a beautiful resort and I chilled in my cozy robe the night before the race with our view of the water from our room.  Packet pick-up was also at the resort, so it was very convenient.  I got the best number I've ever had...1234, seriously 1234.  Awesome!  That ended up being my running mantra for this race...1-2-3-4 one more mile, one more mile. You can see Canada and the border from here! Best number ever! So, race day for the Birch Bay 15K was very wet, so I was soaked by the time I finished. Luckily, I had my hover capri from Skirt Sports that is the perfect capri for running in rain.  It doesn't get weighed down and feels like the rain just rolls right off.  It was colder than I expected, so I ended up wearing my toasty vest too. For the first seven miles