Before get to today’s post ….

What with the end of the school year and all of the concerts and graduations and class parties and locker clean-outs, the Ragnar Adirondack giveaway deadline might have snuck up on you like it did on us. Guess what? We’ve extended it to June 30! More info about how to enter right here. 

And, now, on with our post.

Hi, I’m Katie. I’m many things: a mom, a wife, a professional, an AMR team member, and I’m also a breast cancer survivor. I’ll be sharing my story here on Another Mother Runner as I get back into a regular running routine and train for a half marathon. I hope you’ll come along. Feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts in the comments section below.

I have a confession, the longest I’ve ever run is a 10K and I’ve been running off and on for years. It’s a combination of a few things: I really haven’t had a desire to run longer than that, I always feel like I don’t have enough time because of the kids, work, etc., and perhaps the real reason is I never thought I could do it.

The first year I ran the Bolder Boulder was in 2015, shortly after we moved to Colorado from NYC. While I’m being totally honest, I ran this race after a 5 year hiatus of consistent running, due to pregnancies, nursing, laziness — the list goes on and on. It was such a fun race. Almost 50,000 people run 6.2 miles through the streets of adorable (and weird Boulder) and end the race in Folsom Field, the University of Colorado’s football stadium. I’m proud to say that I beat my husband by a few seconds that year. #girlpower

2016 was another great race. I was slower than 2015, but didn’t care. It was just fun to be out there on another gorgeous Colorado morning. Little did I know how much my life would change just 6 weeks later.

Fast forward to 2017. I was hesitant to sign up because I honestly didn’t think I would be able to finish. I had taken off the 4 weeks prior to the race because of my implant surgery and my surgeon said there “was no way I would be able to race.”  Well, that’s all the motivation I needed. As my parents can attest to, the best way to motivate me is to tell me I CAN’T do something.

On race day, Dan and I packed the kids up at 5 in the morning and made the short drive up to Boulder. After dropping them off at their cousin’s house (with a gigantic box of donuts, thank you very much), we headed to the starting line. I got a little emotional letting it all sink in: I thought about what I had been through the past year, how thankful I was to be able to run again, and how grateful I will eternally be to my husband who has been by my side though it all.

You would think I was getting ready to run Boston with all of the waterworks, but for me, the Bolder Boulder 10K was my Boston. It was something I had to do to prove to myself that I’m healthy, breast cancer is a thing of the past, and now I can keep pushing myself to run farther, thanks to the awesome Heart Rate Training Program. Denver Rock N Roll Half Marathon, here I come.