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(We wanted to call this the Snail Trail episode--you will have to listen to find out why...) But ok! THIS WEEK on the Miles with Moms podcast we were so honored to have Elizabeth Ropp, a pediatrician and homeschooling mom of 6, as our guest as we continue featuring fellow mother runners all month long to celebrate Mother’s Day.

Elizabeth is a 40-year-old mom who started running a little over two years ago after baby six as a means to battle postpartum anxiety and depression. She recently completed her first World Major Marathon at the Boston Marathon, her third-ever marathon.  She is planning to run Chicago later this year. Elizabeth homeschools her six children and recently went back to nearly full-time as a pediatrician working as a Nursery Hospitalist at our community hospital.

Some topics we chat about:

-HOW SHE FITS IT ALL IN. Elizabeth walks us through a day in the life, including what she does if her kids don't comply with their teacher aka mom.

-FINDING RUNNING LATER IN LIFE. Elizabeth talks about how running saved her during a hard time in her life, and how she keeps it fun while also having big, serious goals. She also opens up about her battles with imposter syndrome.

-HER DECISION TO GO BACK TO WORK. Elizabeth shares why she decided to go back to work after staying home with her kids for many years. Her self-awareness and courage are inspiring. 

Olivia also drops some of her usual hilarious nuggets including one that will never make you look at snails again. She also talks about the humor she found in her marathon DNF earlier this month. 

Thanks to our sponsors Lagoon Sleep and Happy Curves for supporting this episode!

Save 15% on Lagoon Sleep pillows with code MOM and save 10% on Happy Curves products on Amazon with code MilesMoms10.

DISCLAIMER: We had technical issues so the audio is less than perfect. Thanks for bearing with us!

About your hosts:

• Whitney Heins is a mom of 2 kids, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. IG: @themotherrunners.
• Shanna Birchett is a mom of 6 kids six years apart, including twins. She returned to running in 2022 after an 11-year break, running a 2:44 marathon in the summer of 2024. She is the co-founder of Endure 365 running, endure365.com, which offers heart rate-based training plans. IG: @motherhood_running.
• Tricia DeNardis is a mom to 3 young kids and a physical therapist specializing in the pelvic floor, pregnancy and postpartum rehabilitation. After running 10 marathons, Tricia completed her first 50k in the fall of 2024, and is now hooked! IG: @burpeesandburpcloths.
• Olivia Garcia is a mom of 2 young kids, who used to work as a paramedic. She fell in love with running in 2019, despite surviving a marathon that didn’t go according to plan. With a 2:57 PR, she's cut more than an hour off her marathon time. IG: @watch_oliviarun...