for {Me}mory

Memory Care at White Rock Lake

WHAT YOU’RE MISSING

Why we should root for the new Minyard Sun Fresh Market replacing Albertsons

Who was the woman found dead in a trunk in a Lake Highlands apartment lot?

Casa Linda’s Szechwan Pavilion to close in late February

Bogo Bistro replaces nearby Papa Murphy’s

Police quickly locate 2 kids abducted from White Rock area thrift store WANT

FOLLOW US. Lake Highlands Advocate @Advocate_lh

TALK TO US.

Email editor Christina chughes@advocatemag.com

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DATE: Saturday, February 7

TIME: 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.

LOCATION: Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake West Tower 9330 Poppy Drive, Suite 207 (near Garland Road and North Buckner Boulevard)

Free healthy heart screening exclusively for women includes:

• Blood cholesterol check.

• Blood glucose test.

• Blood pressure monitoring.

• Weight evaluation.

• Personal health assessment with a nurse.

Reservations are required for the screening and space is limited.

Heart disease is the #1 killeramong women. Make your appointment today and learn about your risk factors.

Run and Shine

Dawn Grunnagle makes running look easy during her laps around White Rock Lake.

Credit here

She’s a professional runner, logging about 90 miles a week, rain or shine, sometimes 20 miles at a time. It’s a fairly recent career path, however. She spent a decade as a teacher, including seven years at Merriman Park Elementary, where she continues to volunteer with the Merriman Park Elementary Running Club.

In June, with Nike as a sponsor, Grunnagle ran the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in less than an hour and 15 minutes, meeting the qualifying standards for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon. In February 2016, she’ll race in Los Angeles, alongside 20-plus other runners, to compete for a spot on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team in Rio.

It’s taken years of dedication, discipline and hard training to get to where she is now, plus the support of her family and community. As a full-time athlete, Grunnagle is proof that it takes a village to make a runner. “No one at this level could do this by themselves,” she says.

Grunnagle has been running since she was 16. She always had a competitive spirit, and when her high school coach told her a track scholarship could be her ticket to college, her passion intensified. She ran track for Texas Tech University and the University of Houston before entering grad school to become a teacher. She continued to run while teaching third grade at Merriman Park and then fourth grade at Good Shepherd Episcopal School in North Dallas for three years. She signed on with Nike while prepping for the 2012 Olympic trials and then quit teaching to focus on running.

Within the last couple of years, Grunnagle decided to switch from running track to running marathons. Her trainer has been by her side, helping her transition into long-distance running, and her husband, Harry, rides his bicycle beside Grunnagle during her runs whenever he can.

Grunnagle also has an entire team of supporters in the running organizations she created, SpeedKIDZ and SpeedKIDZ Elite. The latter is a team of girls ages 8 to 14 who come from all over the Dallas area to receive Grunnagle’s coaching and opportunities to race. It’s her way of continuing to teach.

The girls aren’t the only ones who have profited from the mentorship. Grunnagle’s work with SpeedKIDZ has changed her perspective on running, she says.

“Before, I ran for myself and my own goals,” she explains. “Runners, we’re never happy. Now I have 36 girls watching every single thing I do. They’re watching how I react to failure and success. It’s a whole different mentality for me.”

Learn More

—Brittany Nunn

Visit speedkidz.com to find more information on Grunnagle’s work as a running coach.

Drool is cool

Subscription services are booming these days. Companies such as Birchbox set the trend, sending subscribers a monthly box of surprise goodies, and now people in the market for everything from Japanese candy to survivalist gear can get their fix.

Thanks to Lake Highlands couple Brooke and Adam Fish, stylish baby bibs are among the newest possibilities. Brooke has a degree in fashion design and has worked for Todd Oldham and Fossil, and Adam is a photographer. So, when they began thinking about family business opportunities, they explored a subscription service featuring handmade items. A few years ago, their friends started Foot Cardigan, a subscription service for kooky socks. The Fishes asked what they thought of a bib subscription, and that was the beginning of Fresh BiB.

Fresh BiBs aren’t your basic duckieprinted, terry cloth number. Each bandana-style bib is reversible and made of two coordinating fabrics, so they act as tiny fashion accessories as much as clothing protectors. Each month, the specific design is a surprise. “I wanted to take one decision off [parents’] plates,” Brooke says. “They have enough to juggle.”

The idea of alleviating — even a little bit, for a little while — some of the stress of parenthood has been important in the development of the Fresh BiB idea. The Fishes, parents to sons Jude, 9, and Liam, 6, knew from experience what all new parents find out quickly: Parenting is tough, especially at first. So each Fresh BiB comes with a little trinket or note of encouragement for parents, and is finished with green stitching and a little green tag. “It’s a reminder that every day is a fresh, new start and that it’s going to be OK,” Brooke says.

Fresh BiB has certainly made parenthood easier for the Fishes. Their home, which they moved into two years ago, also serves as their workplace: Adam has a photography studio and Brooke a sewing studio upstairs. In the mornings, they make the short walk to Wallace Elementary, where both sons attend school, then come home and head upstairs for the workday. Adam takes care of the photography, fulfillment and online business issues. Brooke handles the marketing, media and production, including most of the sewing. “We love our commute,” Brooke says. “Having everything under one roof has been such a blessing.” —Larra Keel

LEARN MORE about the Fishes’ company and how to order a subscription at freshbib.com.