Here is what I got for you. Some of these are gift ideas some of these are treat yourself ideas or put them on YOUR list ideas.

Some items linked are affiliate but some are not. Like the spanx recommendations. I have no affiliation with them though I would like to… I don’t! I love love love the items I purchased from them though and they are probably my new go to for quality apparel. Scroll for those links!

Here goes:

Hello Skincare Lash Therapy

Use code “LindseyH20” for 20% off

The lash therapy is a game changer for your lashes will see change in two weeks time. I was so blown away with this product the first time I used it. They also have a great C-Serum and night serum I use everyday. Are you even 40 if you don’t use C-Serum?

I’ve been using this stuff for 4 years now and I will take breaks from the lash therapy for like 3 months and then hop back on. I’m telling you the difference is wild for first time users! Don’t not do it.

Red Light Fask Mask by Fringe

Listen. I am fully mid life doing all the things. Massage, Physical Therapy and freaking Red Light Therapy. The one thing I have refused to dive into is cold plunging but hey I’ll let you know if I do. These are pricey but you can grab it for 25% off through the end of December with the code “Hein25.”

I’m a 20 minutes a day red light therapy mask wearer. My kids think I’m weird. I know I’m weird. It’s all good.

Here are the things Red Light Therapy will do for you: Improve cellular energy production, Reduce Inflammation, Increased Blood Flow, Enhance tissue Oxygenation, Boost Collagen Production, Improved Cellular Resilience and Reduced Cellular Toxicity. Boom Let’s go.

Favorite Workout Gear of 2024:

Ribbed Workout Tank

This bad boy is $17 on amazon and I was skeptical because it’s tight but as long as we pair it with a nice high waisted bottom we are good to go. I ordered a medium and also took the padded cups out. I may have to buy it in the bright green as well. I LOVE the pink.

I’ve lived in some Spanx for athleisure wear.

Bought myself a Pickeball outfit that I love wearing! I just feel alive in it. The red is fun.

I also purchased the matching top to it and some comfy black pants linked below…. I love the slit in the front by the feet. It’s fun.

Other Spanx Items I’ve loved:

Slim Flare Pant with Front Slit

Core Lux Skirt

Contour Crossback Shelf Tank

I partnered with Oiselle this spring so these items were gifted to me but I’ve LOVED these pieces from them specifically and worn them constantly:

Hi Twenty Sports Bra

Lux Life Full Tights

For the Book Lover:

Glocusent Book Light

I LOVE this thing. I use it almost everyday. It is nice when I read to the boys at night because their overhead light is off and the room is dark so they are more likely to calm down while I read. I also use it in bed to read or if it’s early morning and I don’t want a lot of light. Highly recommend. It comes with a charger and I keep the charger in my bedside table. I hate trying to keep what charger is what straight and this helps wit that!

Favorite Books of 2024:

Start with Welcome – The Journey toward a Confident and Compassionate Immigration Conversation by Bri

The Berry Pickers – Amanda Peters

The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese

Books I’ve read with my kids this year:

CampScare – Delililah S. Dawson

My Side of the Mountain – Jean Craighead George

A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle

What I’m listening to, reading and watching:

MOVIES:

I’m not a huge mover go-er but the kids love it and so we go a couple times a year. We went to see “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” with an army of friends. It was really cute AND my kids were so bored. LOL. I think maybe a renter for this crew. Also I think mainly my boys just enjoy more action in a movie. I loved it though and cried at the end.

I haven’t dove into the Hallmark Christmas crazy yet but I’ve heard from several friends that the Lindsay Lohan Christmas movie it worth it!

Shows:

Just finished season 2 of Shrinking and I’m so sad it’s over. Favorite show since Ted Lasso. So good. I’ve also been watching “The Man Inside” which isn’t my favorite but entertaining and easy for evening carefree watching.

Podcasts:

This episode of the Daily with Tilda Swinson was really good. And since I like to hyperfixate she mentioned David Bowie in the episode and I’ve been listening to David Bowie all day!

As for my own podcasts. If you want some inspiration to keep going you gotta listen to this episode with Lindi Marcusen who was in a horrific car accident just two weeks after her wedding. Not sure she would survive the aftermath of the accident her family all came to the hospital to say goodbye. Seven years later she is thriving and a first time Paralympian. So much hope in this story and I think you’ll really enjoy it!

LISTEN HERE!

I’ve had a lot of fun interviewing more athletes from the Paralympics this summer and am so happy it’s getting more coverage on mainstream media as well.

One more episode I’ve recorded you may enjoy is with Kristen Faulkner! We are running a series where I interview athletes from different sports and Kristen was the first American woman in 40 years to medal in cycling at the Olympics… she walked away with GOLD in Paris this summer. An incredible woman and story. Listen to that here!

If you ever want to simply support my podcast the best way to do that are:

• Subscribe and listen!
• Leave a rating/review on itunes or wherever you listen!
• Share it with your network of people or social media
• You can also support all the work that goes into it over on patreon.com/lindseyhein for as little as $1 a month! This is a great option for listeners who tune in every week and really enjoy the show!

If you are still here to the end- thank you! I hope you are having a great holiday season! Please reach out anytime if you’d ever like to connect!

Three and half years ago I emailed the Race Director Carey Pinkowski to see if they could utilize my services at the expo or at the race moderating interviews. He forwarded my email on to their expo team and three years later I’ve been moderating expo panels every year. It is a true honor and such a fun job that I’m really grateful for. These gigs do not fall into my lap, I am usually pitching myself and following up and following up and following up. Sometimes I hear no, sometimes I hear maybe and sometimes I hear yes. All three events I’m working this fall I pitched myself to and I’ve got one more I’m pushing hard for.

Chicago always felt right to me because it is closer to my hometown than any other major and Glenn’s family is from the Region and we’ve been to Chicago so much I just felt more at home here than any other race. I have only run Chicago one time – 10/10/10 but have spectated it many times over the years.

My colleague Shawn Sullivan who EMCEE’s the expo is incredible to work with and we already have some fun ideas to get more interactive with you all for next year!

A lot has changed over the years in the running scene and it continues to get more and more exciting with all the groups and how brands really go all out. But in all that if I’m being honest I’ve oftentimes felt a little lost and dare I say left out, like I don’t have a seat at the cool table at 40 years old. Boy oh boy does that feel lame typing it out.

This past weekend a company I had thought I formed a great relationship with completely dropped me for something shinier. I had to keep telling myself though you have a job here and you LOVE it and you don’t need more in this moment. It does hurt the ego and the feelings a bit though. It begs the question how much should we strive versus how much should we work on being content. I think there is space for both.

What I’ve leaned into over these last couple years is investing my energy and time into connecting with people who I know will show up and caring about relationships over the scene. I’m assuming there are feelings such as this in any niche space? It’s all good… but I wanted to share my true feelings at these big events because they oftentimes look like all glitz and glam!!

One of my favorite parts of this weekend is that I get to be the team Coach for the Every Mother Counts charity team… this team of 44 raised over $87K to support quality, respectful and equitable maternal care for Mother’s around the World. Now that’s what I’m talking about. We have a bunch of runners running the NYC Marathon in a few weeks which will be excited as well! (I will not be at that race in person though because I’ll be cheering on runners in Raleigh at the City of Oaks Marathon!

I also got to see two of the one on one athletes I coach – Jennifer and Megan and I’m so proud of both of them for working so hard and having strong races on Sunday!

At the expo this year I got to interview Deena Kastor, Galen Rupp and Steve Jones, Mike Ko along with moderate panels for sponsors of the expo including Biofreeze, Gaterade and Advocate Healthcare.

I always love getting to connect with Deena Kastor- a real one through and through and we had a wonderful interview on stage at the expo- you can listen to that on my podcast – I’ll Have Another with Lindsey Hein. I also had the really cool opportunity to interview Galen Rupp at the expo. This was a first for me and one that I’ve wanted for a long time but didn’t think was ever going to happen because he doesn’t do a lot of interviews. I had limited time with these interviews on stage and stretched the Galen one out as long as possible. (much to the audio people’s dismay… SORRY!) Here is my conversation with Galen if you want to check it out! The other one on one inteview I hosted was with the Legend Steve Jones. Steve won the 1984 Chicago Marathon in his first completed marathon and set a World Record that day as well. He went on to win Chicago again and also has won both the NYC and London Marathon. Will publish that episode soon!

A beautiful weekend indeed. If you came by and said hello- thank you so much! I love meeting listeners and couldn’t keep my podcast going without you. Truly. We gave away two amazing giveaway bags from supporters of the podcast including: Previnex, Lagoon, Athlete Bouquets, Erica Sara and Pen and Paces! Stay tuned because we are doing another giveaway with this crew on instagram coming soon and if you are at City of Oaks Marathon or the Richmond Marathon I’ll have a few goodie bags to give away at each of these events this fall!

Congratulations to all the runners who participated in the marathon yesterday. The marathon is so special because it takes you to a place where you maybe didn’t realize you could go.

Let me know how your race went in the comments! Are there still comments on blog posts?!

Be YOU!!!!

XO!

Lindsey

PS – Here are some codes from some of my favorite sponsors:

Lagoon – Code “Lindsey” for 15% off the best pillows I’ve ever used & Night Bites (hello magnesium and L-Theanine!)

Previnex – Code “Another” for 15% off my favorite Creatine Supplement and Joint Health!

I was at a thrift store with my friend Janelle a few months ago and saw it in pristine condition for $1.00 and decided what the heck I’ll try again.

This was a commitment. I’m glad I stayed with it. There are a lot of details that matter but it takes awhile to get through.

The story is about a family of 6- a crazy Baptist pastor and his wife and four daughters move from Georgia to the Congo to evangelize to the people who live there. It’s all told through the eyes of the daughters and the wife. The Dad does not narrate at all which is maybe the most interesting part.

I found that I really started connecting with the book once chapters from the Mom came around. Honestly it’s a heartbreaking book and though it was tough to get through it left me still thinking about it weeks later.

The Dad is portrayed as this monster really and the more I think about it the more I think wow he really had a mental illness and though you can hardly feel bad for him because of what he puts his family and the communities around him through you feel sad that he was so twisted in his own brain that he thought what he was doing was the right thing to do.

Beyond the family story it also gives a lot of historical context to the war in the Congo as well. I’m not sure how accurate that piece is but I think the author did her best to paint a real picture of it. I’m certainly not educated on it enough to know all those facts!

I’ll leave it at that because I don’t want to give much away in case you want to read it.

I would just say have a fun book on the side to read if you need breaks unless you think that would distract you from picking it back up! I got through it by taking it little chunks at a time.

This is not a ringing endorsement I know AND I think I’d still recommend it.

Have you read it?

Questions for you:

1. Book you read this year that you most recommend?

2. Book you could have done without?

3. Book you are excited to start?

This is the most special community and event I go to all year and it will be my 6th year partnering with the Donna Foundation and Visit Jacksonville for this amazing weekend.

The course is flat and FUN! It starts and finishes on the beautiful Jacksonville Beach (no sand running though!!). My favorite part is one of the streets around mile 10 or 11 of the half marathon where there are tons of flamingos and pink paper mache hanging with great music. You are so close to the finish and it’s just so uplifting. 

This race is the National Marathon to finish Breast Cancer and funds go to support those walking through a diagnosis as well as helping fund groundbreaking research as they partner with the Mayo Clinic. 

Come run with me!! February is the perfect time to get down to FL and run a race. It’s great timing if you are training for a spring marathon as well if you need to tune up and just see where you are fitness wise. 

The official race hotel is at the Courtyard Jacksonville Beach Oceanfront. (Hello oceanfront rooms!!) and we will be having a really fun post race party on Sunday so make sure you book through Monday!

Visit Breastcancermarathon.com and use the code “lindsey10” for 10% off your registration for any of the races that weekend.

Who’s in?? Can’t wait to see you if so!

PS – YES I will also be at the Olympic Marathon Trials that weekend in Orlando…. the good news is Jacksonville is only 2 hours from Orlando so I’ll be driving over at the trials in the later afternoon!

Gonna be a weekend to remember!!!

Here it goes!

What I’m loving:

• New Hollister Jacket – I lost my big winter coat. How does that even happen? Anyway this isn’t a big one it’s more of a warm bomber jacket but it’s cute and I think I’ll get more use of of it here in NC. Maybe next winter I’ll replace the big one. 

• Fancy Tea – I bought a fresh press and now it’s my afternoon ritual. I found a cute little tea shop downtown Raleigh (Tin Roof Teas) and that will be my new spot I purchase from. 

• Oliveda – This is new skincare that my friend Stacey introduced me to and I’m obsessed with it. It’s waterless I started with the anti wrinkle aging set and am hooked. Just bought the moroccan mint mouth oil too. It’s getting out of hand TBH. I also love their Honey Enzyme Mask and use it twice a week before bed. All about that bedtime routine. This is my I’m 40 era and I’ll buy expensive good quality skin care. This is a European brand that puts 100% bioactive ingredients into their topical skin and ingestible products. This is not a water based skin care company— the skin care is based on the highly anti-inflammatory olive leaf cell elixir which makes it very impactful and results driven. 

What I’m Reading:

 The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver

 Notes on Hope, Anne Lamott

 Romantic Comedy – Curtis Sittenfeld 

What I’m Listening to:

 – The Popcast (always)

 – Noah Kahan (Where has he been all my life. Just the best)

 – Just finished Britney Spears book on audible (I defintiely recommend this one on audible. I love a book like this on audible and Michelle Williams reads it and does a hilarious Justin Timberlake impression)

What are are you loving, reading or listening to?

** Note- the amazon links and Oliveda are affiliate links!

Reflecting on a weekend spent with friends and family and feeling so grateful for the love shared this weekend. This month my husband Glenn and I both turn 40, our youngest son turns 5 and we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. It’s a month and year I’ve thought about for a long time. It seemed so far away for so long and here it is just a comin and a goin. So we had a big old weekend surrounded by people we love and it was simply the best.

I think about friendship and talk about it endlessly it seems. When we moved to Raleigh it was one of my biggest fears. Probably second to finding a new Doctor. How will I make friends? How will I find community?

In reality I think there are times when we all feel lonely even when we have the best people surrounding us in big or small numbers. We are the only ones who experience our exact lives. An obvious statement but a reminder that it’s normal and though letting people in makes life a whole lot easier it doesn’t completely fix the human nature of loneliness.

The older I get the more I realize how important it is to show up. We’ve been bathed in a culture of learn how to say no and set boundaries. That is a wonderful thing but I hope that it doesn’t cloud how important it is to really show up.

It’s easier for me to show up now than it was 6 years ago when I was knee deep in babies and toddlers and post partum feelings. Don’t let these words make you feel bad if you’re in it, whatever IT is.

The simple text or contact to just say hi matters so even if you can’t show up physically don’t forget that the thought counts and the simple text matters.

More thoughts, reflections and all the sappy posts coming. 

XOXO friends. Go text 5 people you love right now and check on a neighbor.

Summer with kids is hard. It’s supposed to be magical and fun and all those things. And then we remember we aren’t kids anymore. I’m the adult that always wants to be having fun. If it’s not fun I don’t want any part. Hence me passing along any boring life stuff to my husband. Who do you think manages the bills around here.

So we have this vision of all the fun we are going to have, the trips we will take, the fun laid back chilling out. And then we still have our own work to do and lives to manage. The never ending screen time challenge becomes a thing and all the kids in the neighborhood give in to just wanting to play video games all the time. Suddenly it doesn’t feel very magical.

I realize that as the kids get bigger their interests change. Maybe building a fort and playing “camp out” won’t last forever. But maybe it will last a little bit longer if I delay certain things like phones and other personal devices.

The thing about playing camp out (a favorite for my kids), building forts and being creative is it’s incredible messy and can feel destructive. It can really make your skin crawl as you see them pull more things out of every closet in your house for hours on end. Every snack in the pantry is removed. No pillow untouched and suddenly your new throw pillows are laying in a pile of leaves and sticks.

It’s worth it though. It really is. Ok maybe set your own boundaries on the throw pillows. I think most people panic when they see the shenanigans my kids get into. Now if I could get them to clean it all up to my standards. Spoiler, you probably can’t (unless your kids are unicorns) but it’s still worth it.

All this to say, summer has still been a struggle for us. We think the downtime will be great, but the togetherness and lack of structure becomes a challenge. Everyone seems to be in camps all summer and I refuse to overcamp my kids. Here’s why:

1. It’s incredibly expensive and with four kids it downright outrageous.

2. I believe kids need to know how to be bored. I think that speaks for itself AND it’s a topic for a whole post. This is for adults too.

3. I work for myself and my schedule is flexible. One of the biggest perks of this is not needing childcare all the time. I know many people don’t have this set up and it’s a privileged viewpoint- you do what you do!

4. My kids are getting bigger. When you don’t have toddlers and babies anymore they don’t need full time supervision which brings me back to being bored and entertaining themselves. It also raises one more important point.

5. Independence. Kids learn how to be independent when every aspect of their life isn’t planned out and taken care of for them. If watching your 5 year old making himself a PB&J because he’s hungry and you have calls overlapping when that happens isn’t the cutest and most satisfying thing to watch I don’t know what is. Look I feed my kids lunch but it’s really not a big deal if they take care of that for themselves sometimes. Actually it’s a really good deal.

NOW NOW NOW before this comes off as preachy and all that jazz I’m just here to tell you my lived experience and ALSO let me tell you. My kids fight like cats and dogs. It is never ending. I actually feel like I am loosing my mind over this. I am certain there are several factors that play into that. One being that they are all very close in age, all the same gender and just happen to be all very physical boys as well. I’ve had several moms of girls say that their girls are the same and perhaps they are but when you put four boys all together… I don’t man I’d love for you to be a fly on the wall here. I’ve also noticed as they get older the physicality becomes so much rougher and also just like kind of scary TBH. I am certain there are boundaries and rules and plenty of things I’ve not done right that could make this better but here we are and THIS IS ME TRYING!

I hesitate to even publish things that sounds the least bit preachy about kids but perhaps you are looking for a nudge to let your kids get messy and make their own PB&J.

I know many of you are back in school now, but some like me are still shlepping along with three more weeks of summertime.

Cheers to each of you- you’re doing great even if you feel like you aren’t. You are a really good parent. I’m certain of that. That’s a pep talk for myself maybe?

If you want to learn more about raising independent kids make sure you check out my podcast for parents “Why is Everyone Yelling?” Specifically this episode with Julie Lythcott-Haimes is a favorite on this topic and this one with Julie Bogart on letting curiosity lead the way!

Fine me on social media to connect: @LindseyHein626 on instagram @LindseyHein on threads.

I remember this day so clearly. My oldest child was 6. He’s a hot tempered guy. Comes by it honestly if you’ve met his Mom. I couldn’t convince a teacher or an outside member of our family that if I tried though. That temper is reserved for home. Those sweet little first borns brown nosing their way through preschool having you thinking damn I did something right.

You DID do something right. But don’t let their behavior inside the home or outside the home whether it’s “good” or “bad” define you as a parent. Did you hear me? Shall I repeat that comment? Their behavior does not define the kind of parent you are.

So many times I’ve found myself embarrassed that the people of the park or the store are judging the kind of Mom I am because of the tantrums that have been had. It’s worse when it’s one of your bigger kids because hey they should know better!

Back to this day I remember so clearly though. My dear sweet boy who made me a Mom screaming “I hate you” to me. At 6 years old. How does this child even know to say that? How do I have a child who tells people they HATE them? Where I have gone wrong. I remembered back to the day pre kids when a neighbor girl told me she had the hiccups and I said “oh no! I hate the hiccups” to which her Mom said “We don’t say hate” and I immediately felt like a huge asshole. I bet her kid never told her she hated her.

All those feelings rose up and I thought I immediately needed to solve this problem. Who does he think he is using that word? We aren’t that kind of family. We don’t talk like that. We are kind! Hate has no place here. Not out of our mouths, not out of our actions.

When you have a baby, a toddler and a 4 year old roaming the house during this predicament you might not be able to solve this problem in a jiffy.

I got so hung up on the word. How dare he?! Who knows what else was piling up in my anxious mind but in that moment I snapped. Trying my best to get a kicking, screaming, red faced child to his room to remove him from the situation because I am in charge dammit! All while keeping my baby safe from the toddler was just a disaster. Ya’ll have to work hard to keep your babies safe from your toddlers too right? Flying power rangers in your house?

In these moments I think about friends who’s kids would never get away with speaking to them like that. And I feel small. Unqualified. Again. Where did I go wrong to land this plane here?

Here’s the thing. We don’t have to fix things right in the moment. It feels like we need to. It feels like that’s what our parents would have done or that’s what a parent who “has control” of the situation would do.

What I’ve learned though is that in this situation, simply acknowledging what was said, that I’m not happy about it and we will revisit it later might be the best solution. I might need to cool off and I might need to keep my other kids safe/fed or attended to in that moment and DAMMIT I can’t do it all at once. I made myself crazy for some years trying to get the discipline in line in that moment. In fear that I’d lost all control, that my kids would grow up to be rude, hate talking human adults, that my family members or friends would judge me for not taking care of it right then and there.

That’s on them friends. You know how to love your kids. You know how to have those conversations and show them the way.

Hate is a strong word. Of course it makes me feel sad to hear my kids say words that hurt. It still happens and we’ll keep on teaching what’s true and good and right and they’ll keep on messing up and they’ll also keep on learning.

Thanks to Wendy Snyder from Fresh Start Families for being a guiding light for me in so many ways. She broke that exact situation down with my in this podcast episode on Why is Everyone Yelling? and helped me realize what’s important. It’s wasn’t necessarily the word. That word was triggering for me but he didn’t realize the magnitude of it. I’m not defined as a mother by the words my kids use. You aren’t either.

All my Love friends. Hugs on hugs on hugs to you.

Lindsey

Was thankful to spend the night with Michele the night before and spend time with friends and her sweet family. We got to hang together all morning in the athlete village and even ran the first 2-3 miles together which was fun. We didn’t realize we’d run such similar times or else we’d have just stayed together!

Going into this race I thought on a really great day I could break 3:30 on the NYC course. I have always heard how difficult the bridges and hills are. It’s a pretty rolling course and if I’m being honest, I’m pretty intimidated by hills. I live in Indianapolis where it’s really flat and I don’t seek out hills ever.

I did not have a big build or base of long runs for this race – which was why I felt cautious about how fast I could handle. Since Boston in April I kept a consistent 8-12 mile long run on the weekends but other than that only did one 15, 17 and 20 miler leading into this race. I just really thought it wasn’t enough long runs to produce the time that I ran on Sunday.

Here’s why I think I was able to run that 3:23 given then lack of training. 

• Experience. This was my 16th marathon. I know very well the pain of the last 6-10 miles of the marathon and I think my mind and body benefitted from that hugely.
• Being mentally prepared for the hills. Not physically but mentally. I actually thought they would be worse than they were.
  • Ashley really prepped me for the Queensboro bridge at mile 15 and that was HARD, but I was ready for it. I was ready to get up it and down it. And surprisingly marched past quite a few people up it. The downhill of the Queensboro bridge heading into all the cheering crowds was an amazing feeling.
  • The last bridge at 21 (I think it was 21) was really challenging but I just kept telling myself YOU WILL recover from this hill. Get up it, loosen up and recover on the downhill. That was kind of my mantra on the hills and bridges… YOU WILL RECOVER.
  • The last hill though at mile 23ish- 5th ave. murdered me. I was in a fine space mentally but physically I just held on as fast as my body would let me move. A lot of grimacing but also some laughing through the grimaces. One of those things where you can just do what you can do. My legs were so heavy I was turning them over as fast as I think I could It was similar to how I felt in Boston going up heartbreak in April.

Fun facts from my race:

• Fastest mile was mile 16 when I dropped a 7:06
• Slowest mile was mile 24 when I dropped a 8:42
• Half marathon split: 1:40:26
• First mile over 8 minutes (I was trying so hard to stay under that) was mile 22 when I ran an 8:14
• Total time: 3:23:05
• Average pace: 7:45/Mile
• Positive Split by 2 Minutes and 13 seconds

I knew I was running aggressive. I knew it was likely I could blow up entirely on the second half but decided I’d just see what happens. My speed work would indicate I can run at least a 3:23 – but I haven’t built that up too much or for very long and then the big thing was the lack of long runs. So I knew it was big gamble. My legs were feeling the faster miles by mile 10 but I felt like I was having a day and was feeling very mentally strong. (there were definitely some moments of doubt) but I was pretty relaxed about everything. It’s just running, this is for fun and this is an incredible gift that I am healthy to be out here pushing my limits. So let’s go all in and see where that lands me.

It was fun to run hard. In Boston in April I just wasn’t physically ready to run hard for 26 miles. I was 8 months post partum and my body wasn’t there yet. That was very clear to me when I ramped up longer runs. Over the past three or four months I have seen my body go back to it’s natural, happy place. That’s been totally gradual and it’s due to more time post partum, exercising more consistently, eating food that fuels me well while also having treats and wine and more sleep.

This race has me excited about what’s to come. I’m not planning to ramp up crazy or anything like that, I’m just planning to gradually keep building off where I am currently. In the past I’ve really wanted to get back to that PR shape quicker. (My PR is 3:11:52) A lot of that is because I knew I still wanted to have more babies and wanted to squeak out a PR between kids. Man that’s hard to do. So this will be the first time since I started having kids in 2012 that I’ve been able to just let my fitness build wand that is really exciting to me.

Thank you to everyone who cheered on Sunday and all the kind messages on social media- the crowds were so loud it was really hard to catch everyone, but I know I caught a good handful of people and even grabbed a kiss from a couple of you (Beth, Mary and Ashley!!)

Priority – Make out with your friends at mile 19 of a marathon.

You don’t cry as you approach the finish line?

Here are my splits for the whole race: 

Ok, that took way too long and I should be prepping for my live show this weekend but I really wanted to get some thoughts out! Perhaps I can do a quick podcast on it next week as well if people would be interested in hearing. Let me know!

Congrats to everyone else who ran this weekend!!