Last Saturday employees of CardioTabs and Good Things Health made a strong showing at the Kansas City Start! Heart Walk benefitting the American Heart Association. As a frequent participant in charity runs and races of all lengths, I was absolutely inspired by the sheer number of people who came out just to walk or to show their support for friends/family with heart disease. There were no timing chips and no prizes for the first walker to the finish line, but still thousands of people came to the event.

This is one event where setting a PR was out of the question. We simply walked and had a good time. I even refreshed my CPR skills! Every once in a while it’s good for the competitor in me to take a rest and enjoy the walk.

I think I can speak for our entire staff when I say that we had so much fun meeting long-time customers and new faces, too. We gave out hundreds of samples of omega-3 and had such great reviews! I’ll be posting pictures soon so check www.cardiotabs.com for them.

More great news: CardioTabs is giving 15% of all product sales that use promo code IHEARTKC to the Kansas City chapter of the American Heart Association. Valid through June 30th.

I did it! Stomach bug and all I qualified! For some reason, the Boston Marathon has always been my gauge. Qualifying for and running it would make me a “real” runner. I thought I’d feel different in some way upon making it, but I don’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited, but maybe it’s because I never took the time to “revel in the moment” at the end. I started to tear up and get excited, but the very moment I crossed the finish line, that stomach bug had me looking for the nearest restroom.

The race really did go well. My first half felt terrific and in the last 10K, I knew I had the Boston time nailed so I relaxed and had fun with it. My brother, his brother in law (who is also a friend of mine) and my husband, who all happen to be named Jason, ran the last half mile of the race with me and those are moments I’ll never forget.
I think the real finisher’s medal should go to my parents and kids. My mom and dad got the kids up very early to watch the race and helped my husband shuttle them from spot to spot along the race course. They did a lot of work and were there every few miles cheering me on. I should also thank the other Michelle. She was running my pace for the whole first half and had a ton of crowd support – I think she knew the whole city. I just pretended it was me that they were cheering for.

Boston April 2011, here I come. My good friend and running partner will even be joining me! Thanks to all of my friends and family for the well-wishes. We did it!