Runner and Coach
I began running in 1998. I've been running competitively ever since! I've had to take time off for injuries and childbirth, after years of searching and misdiagnoses, I'm finally SURE I have Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome and Functional Popliteal Artery Entrapment. My legs always bothered me, but I normalized it for a very long time and just thought it was a combination of training fatigue, being injury prone, and being a wuss. I've probably had it for a while and just managed it with low mileage, frequent breaks, and lots and lots of warm baths and foam rolling. I'm trying not to look to far into the future, but even as an older mom of two (soon to be 3) I can't help but wonder what else I'm capable of.
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Wife and Mom
In 2006 I met and fell in love with Matthew Germain after years and years of waiting, he proposed and we got Married in 2014. We have two girls, Raea Elizabeth, and Maebel Ann and they bring more love and light into our life everyday! In June of 2022 we found out we were expecting number 3! Unfortunately this resulted in 2 subsequent pregnancy losses, but I am now pregnant for a third time in a row (5th pregnancy) and it's going well! I blogged all my training in pregnancy with Maebel, and intend to do the same for this pregnancy although it may be very different due to my diagnosis of PAES and the inability to continue seeking treatment until after I finish breastfeeding in a year or two after giving birth. Parenting and managing a family with training isn't easy, but in my sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly, and sometimes biannual recaps on my blog, you can check out how I manage (or don't manage) that balance along with updates on my health.
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Teaching
I began teaching in 2010 and have been doing it ever since! I am licensed in Moderate Special Needs k-12. I've mostly taught Kindergarten and 1st grade, but as the years go on I find strengths in teaching writing and have been moved to 2nd and 3rd and then 4th and 5th grade where the curriculum is a bit more demanding and the gaps from student to student are larger. All of my students have Autism Spectrum Disorders, and most of them require Behavior Modification to help them access their education. A lot of what I have learned at work can be applied as a parent as well (although it's MUCH harder with your own!). Behavior Modification techniques can be helpful for hot parenting topics such as sleep training and potty training! I'll share my successes and failures with you here! I may even share some of the crafts and projects we do! Science tends to be a big hit with my students!