I've been reminiscing recently and thought I'd put down my thoughts for all to read…

When I was still running at ISU I had so many aspirations to become an elite runner, but I seemed to have bad luck when it came to crunch time. My goal during my senior year of cross country was to qualify for the National Championship. Unfortunately the night before Regionals (the qualifying meet for nationals) I had an undercooked chicken dinner that gave me a bout of food poisoning and I found myself throwing up all night. Needless to say, I was extremely weak at the race start but I wanted to give it my best shot. Unfortunately the last 1000 meters I got tunnel vision and nearly passed out at the finish line. I didn’t place high enough to go to nationals.

I felt so unfulfilled but I decided to focus my effort and attention on track instead. By the end of the outdoor season my steeple time was 22^nd fastest in the nation. I thought for sure I was guaranteed into nationals but I took too much for granted. Just before my race at regionals I felt super exhausted so I decided to take a power nap. When I woke up my body felt strangely numb. I thought my warmup would shake off the coma, but it only made me more tired. During my heat it rained so hard that I could barely see where I was going. As soon as I stepped of the track the rain let up, and the other two heats ran in perfect weather with almost every girl getting a PR. Again I didn’t qualify for nationals.

I wasn’t ready for my running career to be finished, but my dreams had been dashed. I decided to focus myself on more positive situations. Maybe my bout of bad luck was a sign for me to move on with my life. I had a wonderful husband and we wanted to start a family. The next three years our little family doubled as Logan and Charlotte were born. Being a mother is the most rewarding job I could ever hope for and I wouldn’t give it up for the world. I was also blessed to become the assistant coach for the Skyline Cross Country team under the supervision of Head Coach Sean Schmidt. I think that coaching is the best paying job for a mother because my kids can tag along.

But I must admit that I wouldn’t be the runner I am today if I weren’t a coach. In fact, I’d probably be a couch potato. Coaching gives me an incentive to get out the door each day and exercise. As a coach I want my athletes to know that I’m willing to do the same workouts I inflict upon them. When I run with my athletes I take each opportunity to help them develop proper running form, push past mental barriers, and always do their best. In turn, I strive set the example by doing all of these things myself. Over the past few years I have been slowly improving, but I wouldn’t have seen that without the help of Coach Schmidt. He encouraged me to extending my running career even after I believed I was done running competitively. He offered to train me and helped me find placement on the Boise Betties team.

I feel fortunate that my situation has turned out for the better. I know I’m repeating myself when I say this, but I’m lucky to have such a supportive husband who makes an extra effort to help me succeed, a wonderful cross country team and head coach who challenge me to improve, a supportive family that cheers me on, a fun team in Boise that encourages me to run at the next level, helpful sponsors who make it all possible, and enthusiastic kids who tell me to “run faster!”