Born and Raced in Chicago

www.bornandracedinchicago.com

I’m a mother of two, wife of one great guy, a runner (for Oiselle), a  Fitfluential Ambassador, reader, and food lover living in Seattle – but my heart will always be in sweet home Chicago, hence the name!

Foremost, I’m a wife and mother.  Yep, my blog title most certainly refers to the fact that I love to run, and I love to write and read race recaps.  But, I also love to vent write about the trials and tribulations of life with a Kindergartner and a two year old.  Sometimes I’ll wax poetic, and other times I’ll talk about the funny and crazier things my kids get up to: like how the bathroom ALWAYS ends up with an inch of water on the floor when they get into the tub together…

I’m also very passionate about fitness. I’ve been active in some way as far back as I can remember. At least as far back as age seven when I was competing at state meets in the 25 meter freestyle. I continued swimming throughout my childhood and into high school (and I’ve certainly had great role models growing up).  Even though I didn’t continue swimming in college, I always did some form of exercise. I started running and doing step aerobics to keep the Freshman 15 at bay. (I even have a Reebok step in my house right now that sometimes sees the light of day, if I have a sick kid and can’t make it out to the Y.) I didn’t exactly ‘enjoy’ running but it got results. After my second child turned one last year, I decided I needed to have a goal and get out of my comfort zone/rut of solely relying on boot camp and a few 3 mile runs a week to stay motivated. So I trained for and ran the Seattle Half Marathon, and loved the whole experience. I realized that the reason I didn’t love running initially was because I was always running short distances and that I really enjoy myself after getting through the first two to three miles of any run (even in a 5K race). It’s become addictive to get into that zone and helps me stay fit/sane while running around after two small kiddos.  Now I run a race about once a month and talk a lot about my training and race recaps.  Who knows, maybe soon I’ll be documenting my first full marathon…

My favorite hobbies are cooking and reading and I love to talk about those aspects of my life as well.  I do a roundup of our weekly menus with lots of links and recipes.  I also do a monthly roundup of what books I’m reading lately, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE to get recommendations from others on both of these topics.

So please come by and let me know about your latest race, favorite recipe, book or thing you kid did to drive you crazy and we can commiserate!