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Ashley Hansen

@runashley821

2K

followers

1996

following

🏃‍♀️Runner 26.2 x 21 (3:13) 13.1 x 30 (1:34) 10k (42:31) 5k (20:34)
❤️Adam’s wife
👶Addie & Aiden’s Mom
☕️ Coffee lover
📈CPA
🔜 Long Grove 13.1!

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Citgo sign, right on Hereford, left on Boyleston x 3️⃣

2021: 3:55:51 (first half 1:45/ second half 2:11)
The only ever October Boston bc of COVID. (Notice the leftover summer tan vs the other legs of pasty winter white 😂) They cut the normal field size down from 30,000 to 20,000 runners. There was no gun, just a rolling start when you got to the line. We had to wear masks on the bus & in the start area. My first Boston and I was 12 weeks post c-section. I felt a bit like an imposter knowing I wasn’t in BQ shape. Instead I had some worries about my incision, and making it the whole way. I also was so freaking excited to finally do the thing I had tried for YEARS to get to do. It was an epic day and I gave out so many high fives.

2023: 3:26:38 (1:43:16/1:44:22)
My first full experience Boston.. a start corral, a full field… on Patriot’s day! My training went well and I was ready. During the newton hills, a heavy downpour and strong wind hit. I felt like the strongest version of myself.

2025: 3:34:33 (1:44:43/1:49:50)
Does this race get old? No! It was just as much fun as the first time… I still had parts where I held back happy tears. I thought I would feel satisfied with one Boston… but even the 3rd time through, I sit here wanting to do it all again. It seriously has that unicorn magic.

#bostonmarathon2025 #bostonmarathon #marathon #marathonmom #momswhorun #runningcommunıty #womensrunningcommunity #stravarunner #chasingunicorns #runningmotivation #hansonsmarathonmethod #meetthemoment taken in Boston Marathon by @runashley821

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2

a year ago

Same shoes, same drive, same level of proud.

3 vs 8 months postpartum. Just a friendly reminder we are all on different journeys. Don’t compare your Day 1 to someone else’s Day 365.

#revelmtcharlestonmarathon2022 #mtcharlestonmarathon #bostonmarathon2021 #bostonmarathon #motherrunner #postpartum #postpartumfitness #postpartumbody #csectionrecovery #motherrunner #momswhorun #75hard #75hardresults #hansonsmarathonmethod #womensrunningcommunity #runningmotivation #stravarunner #nikerunner #garminrunner #marathon #marathoner #mombod #runnersofinstagram #strongwomen #strongnotskinny #raceresults #weightloss #weightlossjourney #runningjourney #makeyourselfproud by @runashley821

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13

5 years ago

Thanks for following along on the 75Hard journey!! Yesterday we completed it!!
Adam:
27lbs lost, 3.5% body fat
Resting HR 54 down to 45
VO2Max 41.1 up to 43

Ashley:
11.7lbs lost, 4.5% body fat,
resting HR 48 down to 41
VO2Max 48 up to 54
Fitness Age 31.5 down to 28

My Workout stats:
615 miles ran (average of 8 miles / day)
46 miles walked
1,157 minutes strength training
720 minutes yoga
313 minutes rowing

6 books read:
Quiet (Introverts - read this book!)
Make your bed
The Comfort book
Calm the F*** down (Terrible - don’t read!)
75Hard
Atomic Habits

Memorable Moments & Takeaways-
▪️I feel best doing hard things! My HAPPINESS is tied to pushing outside my comfort zone, it’s not found in Netflix binging or drinking a beer. Relaxing sometimes is nice, but true enjoyment comes from pushing myself.

▪️We are stronger together as a team! I was going to do this either way… but when Adam decided to join, I didn’t realize how much better this would be. We were each other’s cheerleaders. We planned workouts (5A.M. Alarms), read books together before bedtime and filled each other’s ginormous water bottles. It made us grow closer while also improving our health and mental toughness.

▪️Our habits affect our kid’s lives too. Newborn life is hard. But we now have a better grip on life with 2 kiddos. Addie has joined in on many workouts, is eating more vegetables and decided to basically give up juice bc she wants to drink water like mom and dad.

▪️The mornings I ran on fresh snow with no one else’s tracks made me feel like a badass. Doing something most people won’t is a motivating experience! Falling through ice into 2ft of freezing water, falling down on icy paths, getting my eyelashes frozen shut… I felt more like a maniac 😂🤪

It was scary to commit to such an extreme challenge. Do I regret it? Absolutely not. This program changed my life. It’s never a bad time to invest in yourself ❤️

#75hardresults #75hard #75hardwomen #75hardprogram #weightloss #weightlossjourney #runnersofinstagram #marathontraining #womensrunningcommunity #motherrunner #postpartum #postpartumbody #hansonsmarathonmethod #runningmotivation by @runashley821

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46

5 years ago

Long Grove Oktoberfest Half Marathon 🍂🏃‍♀️
Race 2/12, October ✅

This training cycle included getting bit IN THE HEAD by a red-winged blackbird, being swarmed by bugs in Door County, and the most toxic relationship in my life: Garmin. ⌚️

Garmin spent the last month watching me train and decided my half prediction was ~1:49. Strava agreed. The bullying worked, so I changed my goals and decided to start with the 1:50 pace group.

Race morning: realized 9 minutes from the start that I FORGOT MY BIB. 🤦‍♀️ Retrieved it, made the start and figured things could only improve.

Mile 1: 8:17 with the 1:50 group. Except…I felt really good. So I left them.

Mile 2-8: At the first out-and-back I counted 12 women ahead of me and spotted the 1:45 group in the distance. New goal: catch them by mile 10.Caught them at mile 6. Stayed for about half a mile and kept going.

Meanwhile, I ran the first EIGHT MILES with my shorts tucked into my underwear liner. 💀 Elite athlete behavior.

Miles 9–11 started to hurt, but I was passing people and knew I could hang on. Then mile 13 took us over the historic Long Grove covered bridge — SUCH a cool finish. 🍂

Closed mile 13 in 7:36 and the last .2 at 6:56 pace.

FINAL: 1:42:38 💥
🥈 2nd of 27 — age group
🔥 8th of 143 women
🏃‍♀️ 52nd of 398 overall

And my favorite part:

Garmin before race: ~1:49
Me: 1:42:38
Garmin immediately after: “Actually, we predict 1:41:52.”
OH NOW YOU BELIEVE IN ME?!
Our relationship remains toxic.

See you tomorrow morning, Garmin.

#OktoberfestHalfMarathon #AllCommunityEvents #RaceRecap #RunningAt40 GarminRunnin taken in Long Grove, Illinois by @runashley821

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9

12 days ago

For my 40th bday, I decided to run (at least) one race every single month.

Month 1: September ✅
🍪 Thin Mint Sprint 5K
💙 Running it with Addie made the perfect start.

I've been trying to fill in the calendar & today I found out I can officially pencil Boston in as my April race! 💙💛🦄

One month down, 11 to go—those winter races will be brutal.

Here’s to 40, 12 finish lines, and a year of unforgettable memories. ❤️🏃‍♀️

#40thBirthdayGoals #40AndRunning #bostonmarathon #RaceEveryMonth #motherrunner by @runashley821

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1

17 days ago

Closed out one hell of a chapter and decade this week. So thankful for the life and growth that happened in my 30s. I'm so hopeful for what 40s have in store!

#motherrunner #birthdayvibes #womensupportingwomen #gratefulforlife #selfgrowthjourney by @runashley821

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2 months ago

Whew it's been a tough start to this trading cycle... And I'm wondering if this is just what almost 4️⃣0️⃣ training looks like? Or do I just need to give it more time? These tempo runs are crushing my soul.... #motherrunner #pelotonrunners #illinoisrunner #momssupportingmoms #momswholift by @runashley821

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3 months ago

Knocked out an 8 x 600 speed session hitting some 6:30 paces... Felt strong and happy to get it done before an overnight vacation in Chicago!
Addie immediately reminded me I'm not that cool 😂 #motherrunners #halfmarathontrainning #pelotonrunners #becsbeasts #momswhorun by @runashley821

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4 months ago

Week 2 of Long Grove Oktoberfest Half Marathon training!

Been slowly taking a tour of all the local races since moving to the Northwest suburbs of Chicago and this will be a first time running this half. I’ve had one mom tell me she did the 10k and it’s “very hilly” cool, cool…. Bring on the steamy summer training 🌟🏃🏻‍♀️

#halfmarathontraining #motherrunner #longgroveillinois #longgroveoktoberfest #motherrunner by @runashley821

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4 months ago

#medalmonday
Cary March Madness 13.1 Race Recap:

After first running this “hometown” race in 2019 I vowed ‘Never Again!’ Here we are round 6 🤦🏻‍♀️

The weather for race day kept changing. The worst it said was 15 degree real feel, 45 mph winds and 8-11” of snow. The best? Today! It was 41 degrees, 13 mph winds (gusts @ 29mph) and I avoided all rain until the last mile. 🍀 lucky!!

I did a short 7 min warm-up where my Garmin graced me with a “-2” performance. Thanks for the boost watch! 🙄 At the start line someone from Strava spotted me and said hello. We chatted running and Boston and off we went! I felt like a goal time of 1:45 was realistic and hoped a secret second goal to beat last year’s time (1:42:13). I put myself in between the 1:40 and 1:45 pacers.

Mile 1: I kept the 1:40 pacer in my sights as we started. I felt ok but the pace felt too fast / risky Split: 7:28

Mile 2-4: I saw a friend working and gave her a happy bday shout and wave. Always nice to see a familiar face! I chose to slow down after seeing that 1st mile time and a lot of people passed me in mile 2. The race is long and the uphills are late. I repeated ‘run with my head’ as a mantra.
Splits: 7:39, 7:20, 7:46

Miles 5-8: Mile 5 has the first big hill and I passed 5 people on the way up! Mile 8 has my normal route hill and I passed another 3. I also passed someone who was so tall I wasn’t even up to his shoulder. I inwardly laughed as I took about 8 steps to his 2.
Splits: 7:44, 7:41, 7:49, 7:31

Mile 9: Did a quick body scan check-in before going into the hardest part of the course. I felt surprisingly good! I got my head ready for those upcoming hills.
Split: 7:20

Miles 10-13: I continued to pass people up every hill. Total hill kills was 15! Zero people passed me. After spending so much of winter training on a treadmill, I was amazed. Yay for Peloton and Becs and Mariana doing enough incline in our workouts to make it translate to the outside!
Splits: 7:44, 7:37, 7:22

Remainder in comments… #carymarchmadness #halfmarathon #racerecap #pelotonrunners taken in Cary, Illinois by @runashley821

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7 months ago

🏃🏻‍♀️Mesa Marathon 2026 Recap Part 3:

Mile 20: I almost missed the billboard!! It was in a dip and it was the start of the 10k race so there were big blow-ups in the road distracting me. I saw it at the last second: “Ashley Hansen - We love you mommy jommy babahead” and it brought me the biggest smile.

Mile 21-22: guess who I FINALLY saw for the first time all day?!? The 3:35 pace group. WTF. I stayed with them for .25 miles through 1 water station. Some volunteers shouted - I see some BQs!!! That was fun. But at this point, I was running my own race.

Mile 23-26: my quads started protesting, and my legs felt like jell-o. I could feel my blister getting larger on my toe with each step. I was getting hot and dumped the last cup of water on my head. I did some girl math at mile 25. I looked at my watch and thought I saw 3:25, and I panicked. I had 1.2 to go and less than 10 minutes?!?? I tried to pick it up.

Mile 26: I realized the 25 I saw was MILES not time 🙄 I was well under my goal... Really close to sub 3:30 actually! So I pulled out whatever was left....

Finish time: 3:29:29
Half Splits (1:44:46, 1:44:43) can’t even split much prettier than that!! (My hotel room was Rm 444… new lucky number??)

I passed 132 people in the second half, and punched my 5th BQ. It was my slowest time on this course, and yet I was still almost in tears getting my medal. This sport is so damn hard, and I will never take a great run for granted.

Also, in your face Garmin for believing I couldn’t run faster than 3:38 😂 💥 it has adjusted itself!

#garminrunner #stravarunner #bostonqualifier #runnerscommunity #marathon by @runashley821

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8 months ago

🏃🏻‍♀️Mesa Marathon 2026 Recap Part 2:

Miles 1-4: The first pace group I saw was 4:05. I was quite a ways back from the 3:35 where I planned to be, but I knew the race was long. I also realized my watch’s light was blinking bc we started in the dark... Which is great for training runs, but not ideal in a race. I tried to push some buttons, but it wouldn’t stop blinking. A guy I passed was like “ohhh it’s just you, I thought it was the police behind me!” I tried to hide the blinks under my gloves.

Mile 5&6 (uphill): I saw a girl go live on insta telling everyone about the hill. I wish this was the only phone usage I saw but wow, there was a lot of it and it made me kinda sad we can’t put our phones away just enjoy the run. I passed the 4:00 pace group.

Mile 7-13: quite certain 22 marathons deep, I will never feel good here. No matter the pace, my head is just swirling with doubt. Am I going too fast? How will I hold this for so many more miles? I ran past the 3:50 pace group.
Fun signs:
▪️I heard humpty dumpty had wall issues too.
▪️Your high school gym teacher is so proud of you.
▪️Training for the apocalypse!

Mile 14-19: my head got happy, I saw mile 14 and I was like “only 12 to go!” What’s wrong with my brain? 😂 I started to pass more people here, I saw some 7:XX splits, I felt steady and was loving my playlist.

#mesamarathon #hansonsmarathonmethod #pelotonrunner #losttoysrunclub #momswhorun by @runashley821

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1

8 months ago