My Blogging Friend: The Amazing Sonja

One of the highlights of our trip was the chance I had to meet one of my blogger friends. I stumbled across Sonja's blog a couple years back when I was researching good sport's bras. (Some of you may remember that post.) Anyway, this awesome woman is just a regular person like you and me. She's a wife, she's a mom and she's struggled with weight loss. In the midst of all this, she decided to became a triathlete.

Can I just tell you how awesome she is?

First of all, she is SUPER fast. She gives 110% to everything she does. She is incredibly inspiring, incredibly nice and totally down-to-earth. She is superb at everything she does. She doesn't give up. When I'm out for a long run or ride and I want to stop, I think about her. She keeps me going.

After discovering her bra-review post, I left a comment and told her I was going to be 'stalking' her blog because she is so positive and happy and inspiring. I invited her over to my blog and we became 'friends'. We ended up doing the Dave Ramsey money thing at about the same time, without even knowing it until we were both done!

On Sonja's blog she has a calendar of upcoming races. Come to find out, she was going to be doing a race in Moab the same weekend we were there. "What race?"you might ask. Well, she was there to RUN a 100 mile race.

Yes.

I said running 100 miles.

She, herself, alone......not part of a team. Not over the course of 2 days. She was running 100 miles.

Straight.

Crazy? Yes.

Awesome? Totally.

Inspiring? Incredibly!

So, I decided that if it was possible, I wanted to stop by and cheer her on. I wasn't sure how Sonja would feel about this. I emailed her anyway, and told her I was going to be there that same weekend. She was totally gracious and welcomed the visit. She even gave me her mom's cell number and her husband's cell number to coordinate the visit. They would be there manning her aid station. And she said, "We have to get a picture together!"

So, Friday morning at about 9 am I called her mom. The race started at 7 am. In order to be able to run 100 miles and finish this race, Sonja would slow down to about a 10 minute-mile pace. (Seriously? I know....that is a good pace fore me!) She's usually around a sub-7 minute mile. The race is done on a 6 mile loop out in the middle of northern Moab. She was coming around to the aid station about every hour. So, Brett and I decided to go out and cheer her on and say hello.

When we got there, of course, I totally recognized her husband, her mom and her daughter. I've 'known' them for about 3 years! They were super nice when I introduced myself. They said that Sonja was so happy to have a blogger friend come to say hello! We chatted for a while and then Sonja came running up the path. I started yelling and cheering! She had just finished her 4th lap-- about 24 miles-- practically a marathon. She was all smiles and so happy to see me! It was great to meet her and get a picture! Here we are:

Look how good she looks after running 24 miles! So peppy and happy!

After we took a few pictures and chatted a minute, she was off again. She still had 76 miles to go! Through out the day-- at lunch time I thought to myself, "She's still running." At dinner I thought, "She's still running." When we went to bed I thought, "SHE'S STILL RUNNING!!!!!!!" I couldn't fathom it. The next day I checked out her tweets for the results: She had come in 2nd place overall and was the FIRST PLACE woman! She finished in just under 22 hours. WOW!!!!

The one thing I have learned from Sonja is to not limit yourself or put physical boundaries on yourself. It doesn't matter if you're overweight or out of shape or can only walk to the mailbox. It doesn't matter if you have a family history of heart disease, diabetes, or obesity. If you decide to do something, YOU CAN DO IT!!! Don't tell yourself no. Ever. Sonja taught me the truth of the saying: "If there is a will, there is a way."

She has inspired me to ride in my first century ride this summer.

You have got to check out her blog post about the run and then watch the video. For anyone who wants to be inspired to do anything, this will help you do it. Click here if you'd like to be uplifted and inspired. Be prepared with tissues. (For all my running friends, you will LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this!) Heck, even if you're not a runner......if you're looking for inspiration and that extra boost to help you overcome anything.....WATCH IT!!! Let me know what you think!