Today I present the second in a series of episodes that I’m calling “Running Blogcasts” featuring the writing of fellow runners in our community who have a talent for the written word. The author of today’s episode is Kim Cowart. (Kow-ahrt). Kim is one of the writers for the “Reasons to Run” blog over at Deseretnews.com. She’s a 35 year old mother of two from West Jordan, Utah. Kim spent much of her childhood living in Eugene, Oregon where running is as common as breathing. In her teens, she moved to Utah, where there is a large and very strong running community. Kim has always run off and on, but it was after she had her second daughter that her love of running became more serious. It started with a 20 minute run, and before she knew it, she found herself registering for her first marathon. She had never run a race before, ever. Her husband says she’s an all-or-nothing kind of girl, and this just proved him right. Kim finished her first marathon alive and well and even qualified for Boston. Since that day she has run nine marathons including Boston. She plans to run Boston again this April as well as the New York Marathon and the Utah Grand Slam which is a series that requires runners to complete four major Utah marathons over the course of six months. It’s that all-or-nothing part of her personality again. While Kim loves to call herself a runner, she is many other things. She is a mother of two beautiful little girls, the wife of a curly, red-haired bowling math whiz, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. Kim is a fitness instructor at a local gym where the members inspire her and bring her joy on a daily basis. She is a jig-saw puzzle addict. She was a high school English teacher in a former life. Her astrological sign is Cancer, although she has no earthly idea what that means, but apparently is it important to some. She is a cyclist and spends as much time as she can in the beautiful Wasatch Mountain range riding with her friends in the summer. She is a voracious reader of historical fiction. She is an organizer and master list-maker. She is a dancer, but only when she’s playing Dance Dance Revolution with her girls, so that probably doesn’t count. It was a gym member who attends Kim’s spin classes who asked her to contribute to the “Reasons to Run” blog and it’s been a joy for Kim to be able to combine the two joys of her life: running and writing. Her blog isn’t necessarily always about running, specifically, but it’s always the inspiration. She hopes her honest thoughts about running, exercise, balance and finding joy in the simplicity of life will inspire others to get up and move and realize that it’s never too late to change for the better. It’s her mission to tell people that life is good and it’s worth living well. Running makes it all the sweeter. I am honored that Kim would agree not only to let me re-publish her article from the Reasons to Run Blog, but that she took the time to read it for us herself….and did so on very short notice. I present for you an amazing fellow runner, Kim Kowart, with her essay on a topic we can all relate to: Pre-Race Jitters. LINKS: http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/68/Reasons-to-run.html http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/68/10011257/Reasons-to-run-Pre-race-jitters.html Please support The Mojo Loco Fund: http://mojolocofund.com The song “Bound” was by Black Lab off their new album: Two Strangers. http://blacklabworld.com