Olympic Trials qualifier 2012 (Steeplechase) and 2020 (Marathon); 2012 NCAA Div. I All-American, steeplechase

My husband, Geoff, and I have been married for 9.5 years; we met on our high school cross country team. We have two children, Tessa (5) and Miles (soon to be 3). Our cat, Oliver, is also a big part of our family.

Growing and raising my children. I am most proud of them and hope that I also make them proud!

I work full-time as a speech-language pathologist, am a mom to two young busy kids, and fit in my training around the rest of my life. Often the toughest part about training was simply figuring out when I could fit in my runs. This meant a lot of evening runs in the dark after the kids went to bed, or 6 a.m. Saturday morning long runs. I don't really have the luxury of training at the most convenient time, especially when my work day starts at 7:30. However, I am motivated and thrive off of being busy, which works in my favor. And if you want something bad enough, you will do what it takes to make it happen!

My favorite running memory is definitely the race I ran to qualify for these Trials. I needed a 5-minute PR to get here, and I knew it was a stretch goal. Leading up to my marathon I had started working with a new coach, and his training felt like everything was falling into place for me. I worked harder than I ever had before. I knew I was fit and ready for a PR...I just didn't know if it was going to be a sub 2:37 PR (my previous PR being a 2:41). On race day I was confident and terrified at the same time. I settled into one of the sub-2:37 pace groups. Everything went great through the half and I felt in control. I worked my way up to the front of my pace group, which had caught up to the first group. By mile 18 I was toward the front of the other pace group and still feeling pretty strong. The burn started to kick in at mile 20, but it felt manageable. Our pace group had gotten smaller. By mile 23, the pacer left the race, and we were on our own. I started to hit the wall, and was very unsure of whether I could keep the pace for three more miles. The devil on my shoulder said to slow down, and the angel on my shoulder reminded my how hard I'd worked, how far I'd come, and how much I'd hate myself for giving up now. "Just keep pushing," I told myself, and forced my legs to keep going. By mile 24.5, I hit a second wall, and it truly took every ounce of energy to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I had no idea if I was keeping the pace or slowing down, but was just trying to keep moving. I played the sounds of my kids laughter over and over in my head to distract myself from the pain. By mile 25.5, I made the mistake of looking at my watch and immediately freaking out that I had 3/4 of a mile to go still. "You can do this! Less than a mile!" I kept pushing and pushing. I crossed the line 31 seconds under the OTQ and all of a sudden lost control of my emotions. I alternated between laughing, crying and screaming, knowing I had just reached the biggest goal I've ever set for myself and raced the hardest race of my life.