Fleet Feet Racing Team Application

February 26th is the deadline to complete your applications for the Fleet Feet Racing Team (see here for our Racing Team website).  The application process requires you to go back and review your past year of running and officially state your new goals for this year.  Most interesting to me was the section that asked for number of races completed in 2009 and 2010.  In 2009, I only competed in 6 races, but in 2010 I had raced 16 times!  Knowing that I am wearing the Fleet Feet uniform helps keep me accountable for my running.  The team is made up of so many wonderful athletes, and it is such an honor to be associated with them.  I encourage anyone who is interested to check out the above link or to let me know if you have any questions about the team.  Here is a segment from my application:

Brief Biography

I love pushing myself to the limit and gravitated to running during high school since it allowed me to do that. I have been seriously training and running over the last 11 years, taking a partial break from 2006-2007 to have two children. I worked up to the marathon distance and have now run 28 marathons and ultras, while also racing in almost every distance leading up to the marathon as well. I have completed marathons in 15 states in my 50 state goal, have run 6 Mountain Mists in my 10 Mountain Mists goal, and have qualified several times to run the Boston marathon (an earlier goal of mine). In 2004, I won the HTC Gran Prix Female award, was one of two women to achieve the first local "Grand Slam" award, and set several of my PR's. My husband and fellow runner, Rick, and I have two children, a son who is four and a daughter who is three. My children are my focus and my greatest life accomplishment. I have steadily been whittling away my times in every distance over the past 3 years. I started the year off on a good note in Mountain Mist 2011, where I ran a 5:37:57 and had my course PR.

Short Term Goals

attack the Go! St. Louis marathon in April for revenge for my 2010 experience, complete states 16 and 17 (and maybe more), get faster times in 2011 in every distance than my 2010 times (specifically aiming for a sub-20 minute 5 km)

Long Term Goals

run a marathon in all 50 states, complete 10 Mountain Mists, use running as a means to stay healthy and fit and to set a good example to my children


Also, today Rick and I signed up for the Chicago Marathon, which, according to its website, is only 241 days away!  This will be the largest marathon we've ever run.  I love to plan and look forward to these races so far in advance.  I just hope we will both be able to run it--at an entry fee of $145 each---ouch!