Contributing Writer
Off and on: 2016 - 2022
In 2016, Don Kern (a.k.a. Marathon Don—seriously, he has his own Wikipedia page!) offered me an entry to the Grand Rapids Marathon in exchange for weekly blog entries detailing my training experience. That's how the BriRun Blog happened.
The writings showed up in the Grand Rapids Marathon Newsletter. They reveal a lot of my personal writing voice, training discoveries, and more Sylvester Stallone references than you are prepared for. The BriRun Blog also reveals relatable doubts and setbacks that appear while you're clawing toward your goals.
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Scroll down to read some of the blogs. Read them all here.
If you were drawn to this page because you have "Run a marathon" on your bucket list and don't know where to start, let's chat.
BriRun Blog #1: I Guess I'm Running a Marathon
My inner aspirations went from "Yeah, some day I'd like to run a half marathon" to "S***! I'm running a half marathon" in 2013, when my AmeriCorps teammate got herself, me and two others a free entry in exchange for arriving to the course site at 5 a.m. race day to work the registration table. With that...
BriRun Blog #3: When It's Not Fun to Run
I’m a morning person in that my energy levels are highest when the sun is dragging itself across the east side of the sky. I run in the morning because beginning the day with salubrious activity puts the strength I’m going to need in my corner when the afternoon convinces me that true happiness is found...
BriRun Blog #9: Doodles and Diet
When 2016 came about, one of my resolutions was to illustrate moments in my life that would otherwise cause me stress and dysfunction. I have a leather-bound notebook that has but five drawings in it and one of them is an illustration of me in April, when I was training for the River Bank run, but...
BriRun Blog #19: Before and After
If you take a picture of me from May 13, 2016 (when I signed up for this marathon) and put it next to a picture of me now (after five months of training and working up the ability to run over 20 miles at a time), you won’t see a big weight-loss or Hugh Jackman-esque increase in muscle definition between...
BriRun Blog #20: Post-marathon Briflection
It’s been a little over a week since the Grand Rapids Marathon and a day hasn’t gone by where I don’t stare at my middle toenail and wonder when it’s going to fall off. I’ve read about this phenomenon with runners and Cheryl Strayed, who hiked the 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail and included a...
BriRun Blog (New Mom) #11: Depression (not the intriguing, artsy kind)
If you’re reading this, it means I had the balls to send this to Don as this week’s BriRun Blog. For the last week, I’ve been getting my interior a$$ kicked by the severe depressive disorder I’ve been toting around with me since 2012. And since pregnancy, it’s gotten worse...
BriRun Blog (New Mom) #19: I Had Plans
I had plans for this blog; the last blog before the big jog. The entry that reflects on where I started vs. where I am now, and a chance to write once more to the people we are now before we transform into a new version of ourselves as we put one more marathon mile behind us. I had plans to talk about...