I just want to quickly introduce this post.This is my very first guest post, graciously written by Ann Brennan.
She blogs over at Ann’s Running Commentary and at Ann In Real Life. She is an accomplished writer, runner, marathoner, and mother.
Her blog is a recent find of mine that I discovered through Twitter and Google and one that I quickly fell in love with.
I’d been googling trail running because I’d really wanted to write a post about it since it’s something that I’ve really gotten into lately but I didn’t know much about it. One of the first links that came up was one of Ann’s posts “I Am Not Afraid.” It was so perfect. There was no possible way that I could ever articulate what I was thinking into words like that.
So, I asked her to guest post! (Very nervous that she would say no since I’d never asked anyone to do that before!)
I love her style of writing - it’s from the heart and real. Her voice is so strong and intertwined in her words that when you read her posts it’s almost as if you can hear her reading them to you.
Whether you’re a runner or not this is a fantastic blogger that you don’t want to miss out on.
You can also follow her tweets @BrennanAnnie!

Give her a warm welcome and comment lots!
I am so appreciative of her guest posting for me and I am thrilled to share her story with you!

-nic.

The Right Decision

I am a mom and as such I feel like a failure a good deal of the time but
once in a while I realize I have done something right.

When I first started running marathons I had a whole list of reasons for
doing it - to lose weight, gain fitness, to have some time alone, to have
something that was just mine.  But one of the reasons I gave most often, was
a desire to have my kids see me leading a healthy lifestyle and follow my
example.  This has happened.  They are both conscious of their health
choices and are both involved in team sports.  But they take their personal
health and fitness seriously as well and can be seen running even
non-practice days.  They make wise decisions and for this I am grateful.

But there has been an additional benefit, one I hadn’t counted on.  After
speaking at my children’s school about a marathon I had completed in order
to raise money for a new sports field, I walked off of the stage and
listened in on a conversation my son was having with a couple of classmates.

“Weren’t you embarrassed?” one young boy asked.

“Of what,” my son replied.

“Your mom was up there talking about her feet turning purple and her
toenails falling off.”

My son looked at the boy and said as plainly as I had ever heard him speak,
“No, I wasn’t embarrassed.  My mom’s toe nails fell off and her feet turned
purple because she ran twenty six miles in the pouring rain trying to raise
money for our school. I am proud of her.”

That conversation took place seven years ago and is still one of my favorite
memories.  Today, I know my son would answer the same way.  With seven years
of life experience he is even more proud now.  As a runner himself, he knows
how hard it can be when the day goes wrong.

My children have watched me train.  They have watched me complete eleven
marathons, sometimes crossing the finish line with me.  They have seen me
sweaty and muddy and injured.  They have watched me cry when I couldn’t
finish the Ironman.  And they have watched me dance in joy when I completed
the Marine Corps Marathon in my best time yet.  Through it all they have
come to see me as more than a mom who cooks and cleans and takes care of
them.  They have seen me also take care of myself and because of that they
are proud.  Once in a while, as a mom, I make a good decision.  Deciding to
become marathoner was one of those times .

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