Author: Sam

I recently reconnected with one of my friends from college who is very involved in the Distinguished Young Women (formerly Junior Miss) program in my local area. She asked me to come speak to the contestants about my running story. Me being … well … me, I wrote out everything I planned to say. I’m pretty sure that some of it got lost in translation, as I was pretty nervous. Oh! And I forgot to put on deodorant beforehand. Lovely. Insert facepalm.

Now first … I’ve said this before but it is worth repeating, my dad once told me that I write better than I talk. There is definitely some truth to that. I actually told the girls this before I started and told them they were in for a real treat. I’m assuming Julie didn’t realize this before she asked me to come speak. Ha!

Opening

Fitness is defined not only as “the condition of being physically fit and healthy,” but also refers to “an organism’s ability to survive in a particular environment.” Running and fitness play a huge role in my life and have even given me the ability to call myself a “survivor.”

Before we get too far into this, I should probably tell that you that I actually participated in this program myself, back when it was Junior Miss. I was the second runner up in my (very small) county in 2003, but just to give you a full disclosure up front, I didn’t even place in the fitness portion of the program. Whomp. Whomp. I was an athlete and not a dancer, which doesn’t bode well for the scoring (not that I am still salty about it or anything).

Introduction

I want to share a little bit about myself and my fitness background. I work full-time as a certified public accountant (CPA), I am a runner, I am passionate about running and fitness, I have a blog where I write about my training, I got married in May and I live on a farm with chickens, ducks, goats and my adorable golden retriever, Brooks. 

I have been involved in sports my entire life. In high school, I played softball, tennis, volleyball, basketball and ran track. Running wasn’t exactly high on the list as far as my love for it or my ability to do it at that time though. I tried out for track in junior high and didn’t even make the team. This probably had something to do with the fact that I couldn’t even run the entire 800 meters, the event that I tried out for, without walking. It was highly embarrassing.

I got a lot more into running in college, after taking “jogging” as an elective. There were no more organized sports and I really missed that. Our bodies are made to move! Running helped me to realize that my body could do things that I didn’t think it could, like run a half marathon. Running also helped to realize that, in general, I am capable of so much more than I ever imagined. I fell in love with running.

However, almost just as quickly as I fell in love with running, something terrible happened. While I was out on a training run, I was attacked, kidnapped and raped. This event changed my life in more ways than I could’ve even imagined.

I am now 15 years removed from this “event” and it has certainly been a bumpy ride filled with highs and lows. There is not a one size fits all way to recover from or deal with hardships. For example, I struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and an eating disorder in the wake of this event. I was incredibly conflicted. I was extremely thankful to be alive and yet also scared to live. I was terrified that something else bad was going to happen and I wasted a lot of years being fearful.

There were even several years where I didn’t run at all. It took every single ounce of clarity that I could muster from my struggling mind, body and spirit to focus on my academics. After I finished college, I went to graduate school and eventually went on to sit for and pass the CPA exam. Once I got to this point in my professional career, I started to entertain the idea of running again. I met a group of local runners and started doing group runs and workouts with them. Prior to this running had always been a solo endeavor for me, but I really enjoyed the community aspect that this group provided.

Since then, I have gone on to win 4 marathons and in the last year and a half, I even placed in the top 50 of two national races. I now use the phrase “run to overcome” as a way to remember that what happened to me was not the end of my story, in fact it was only the beginning.

After I won the first marathon, I knew that I had to tell my “from victim to victory” story. I hoped that my story would resonate with people on many different levels (whether it be overcoming injury, illness or some other affliction) and that I could inspire people who were in the midst of their own struggles to keep fighting.

There are three main things that I hope you can takeaway from my story:

1.    Expect the unexpected.

Life is going to be full of unexpected events. We can plan for a lot of things, but a lot of things, if not most things, are completely out of our control. Take COVID-19 for example. One year ago, would any of us expected that this would be the situation we would be dealing with? Absolutely not.

In any given situation, the only thing you can control is your reaction. What you do after a setback is what defines you, not the setback itself.

I certainly didn’t expect what happened to me to happen. It was completely out of my control. We are all going to experience hardship, obstacles and other unexpected events in the course of our lives. We have to view each obstacle as an opportunity for growth and learning in order to truly overcome the circumstance.

2.    To find strength, you have to be vulnerable.

I am a big believer in therapy and, in general, sharing your struggles with someone, whether that be a pastor, a therapist, a friend, a family member, random strangers on the internet, etc. Openly talking about something removes power from the situation and promotes healing. There is a quote that says a “shared joy is a double joy” and a “shared sorrow is half a sorrow.” In my experience, this has definitely been the case.

Do not … I repeat … do not try to stuff your struggles away and think that they will go away on their own. While that might seem to work in the short-term, you are only setting yourself up for long-term failure. Being broken in one area of life will undoubtedly lead to brokenness in other unrelated areas. You can’t compartmentalize hurt or pain and you will become “septic.” You have to face your struggles head on and deal with them in order to truly move on with your life.

It’s easy in this Social Media dominated world that we live in to assume that everyone else has it together and if you don’t, you feel isolated and alone. I promise you that this is most definitely NOT the case. No one truly has it together and the people that appear to are likely struggling just as much if not more than the next person. It’s not easy to be vulnerable, but once you open up, I think you’ll be amazed at how many people will say #metoo.

3.    Everything in life that is worth having is worth working for.

The thing about running (and life in general) is that you will never master it. You will never be perfect at it. You challenge yourself every time you lace up your shoes. Some days everything clicks and you might feel like you were born to do this and other days it may feel like a struggle, but every day is an opportunity to give it your best, to see what you can accomplish and to improve.

Training for and running a marathon is hard work. It often means early morning wake up calls to get runs and workouts in before work. It means going to bed early to make sure that you get enough sleep to allow your body to recover and be ready for the next workout. It means fueling yourself properly with nourishing food so that you can perform your best. None of those things are “easy” to do, but they are without a doubt worth it. The joy and satisfaction that comes from setting a goal and working hard to achieve it is unlike anything else that I have ever experienced.

All of you have been given talents. You wouldn’t be in this competition is you weren’t talented, smart, athletic, etc. You’ve all got goals that you have set for yourself. Work hard to achieve those goals. When you do, celebrate and then set bigger goals and get back to work.

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

Closing

In closing, I want to touch on the Be Your Best Self portion of the program. The program has really evolved since I was in it, but it’s so cool to see how the different parts of my life align with the principles of the Be Your Best Self program (even after all. these. years.)!

1. Being healthy – Of course this is right up my alley. We’ve definitely talked about my running at this point, but I also make other healthy habits, such as getting enough sleep, drinking plenty of water and nourishing my body with good food a priority. And really, being healthy means more than just being physically fit, it also means being healthy mentally and emotionally as well. You can’t neglect any of these areas if you want to be truly healthy.

2. Being involved – Running has opened so many doors for me to be involved in the local community. I have coached training programs at local running stores and have coached for Girls on the Run (GOTR), an organization created to inspire and motivate girls, encourage lifelong health and fitness, and build confidence through running.

3. Being studious – My mom instilled amazing study habits in my from a very young age and my school work and grades always reflected that. Being the overachiever that I am, I even graduated from high school and college with a 4.0 GPA. And I’m here to tell you that isn’t because I am just *that* smart, it’s because I studied A LOT. Some people will tell you that “grades don’t matter,” and there is some truth to that, but only later in your career once you have actual work experience. At that point work experience is more valuable than test scores. Having good grades in college and graduate school shows potential employers that you are willing to put in the work. After college I went on to get a masters in tax accounting and then sat for and passed the CPA exam. Even now, I try to continually learn new things.

4. Being responsible – Growing up and being an adult certainly comes with responsibility. Being responsible isn’t always the “fun” thing to do, but honestly, there’s not really any other option. I try my best to balance my career with my passions and my social life and my responsibilities on the farm. There are times when I have to sacrifice doing something “fun” or spending time with friends because something else takes priority and has to be done.

5. Being ambitious – I still have some really big goals, both professionally and personally that I want to achieve. With running specifically, the biggest goal that I have set for myself is to qualify for to run in the Olympic Trials marathon. I will have to wait four years to go for this one again, but I will keep showing up because everything worth achieving is worth working for!

I want to leave you with one final story about an olive. Hear me out for one more minute. Where light is needed, oil is needed and oil comes from an olive. In order to get oil from an olive, the olive has to be pressed and crushed. Doesn’t sound fun does it? However, the pressing and crushing is what allows the oil to emerge. The oil is considered to be the most valuable part of the olive and it wouldn’t even exist without the “hardship” that the olive has to endure. The oil can then be used to create glorious light! The olive’s greatest hardship turns into its greatest purpose and the same can be true for us.

I truly hope that something that I have said has resonated with you on some level. Life will be filled with unexpected moments and highs and lows. If you keep working hard and striving to be your best self, some of your biggest struggles might just turn into some of your greatest moments.

Hey friends! Here is what last week’s training looked like!

Monday – Easy: 7 miles (8:41 pace)

I did my standard easy run after work on Monday afternoon. I definitely had some remnants of the prior weekend’s back to back workout and long run combination. It’s been a while since I’ve had two big days back to back. Granted, the long run was at easy pace, but it was still the longest run I had done in a while.

Tuesday AM – Easy: 7 miles (8:50 pace) + PM – Easy: 3 miles (8:39 pace)

Tuesday morning I ran from home. There wasn’t really anything major to report from this run. I enjoy doing this route though, because my “Strava art” looks like a sailboat!

Tuesday evening I went over to my mom and dad’s house to visit and did a short run. It started to sprinkle almost immediately once I started running, but it wasn’t a hard rain and it felt quite lovely. Of course the sprinkle turned into a downpour once I got to the farthest point away from the house that I could possibly get on my normal loop. I don’t know how it always happens this way, but it really does! I was planning to do 5 miles, but decided to just turn around and head straight back to the house at that point.

Once I got back to the neighborhood, I heard a mysterious high pitched ringing. I guess no one else was outside to hear it (given that it was pouring rain, this made sense), but it was driving me crazy and I wanted to figure out where it was coming from. About thirty minutes later, a transformer blew right outside the window. I saw a big blue “explosion” and then another yellow “explosion.” This was quite a lot of excitement for a Tuesday evening!

Wednesday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 2 mi. @ threshold, 5 mi. CD

I had a workout on tap Wednesday morning and it ended up being a total flop. The workout was supposed to be a 2 mile warm up, 5 X 1 mile at threshold with decreasing recoveries and a 2 mile cool down. I don’t know why I attempted this one on the treadmill, but at the time it seemed like a good option (#regrets). Basically I didn’t want to get up any earlier than I had to and drive anywhere to do it, so … it seems that I am getting in my own way with laziness at this point. Usually I am pretty pumped about and look forward to workout days, but I didn’t have those feelings towards this workout at all. Since half (or more) of the battle is mental, this was definitely not a good sign of things to come.

My goal pace for the threshold miles was in the 5:45-5:50 range. The first mile (according to the treadmill) was 6:12 and I. was. dying. I’m not even being dramatic (okay, okay … maybe just a little). I felt like I had run a 5:12 mile and not a 6:12 mile. I tried to regroup, but the next mile was 6:20 and I knew at that point that something was majorly wrong. I know that the treadmill calibration is off some and that is definitely part of the problem, but I also think that perhaps my body was just not recovered from the weekend before. Either way, the workout didn’t go well, but that is part of the process. Can’t win them all!

Thursday AM – Easy: 6 miles (9:02 pace) + PM – Pilates!

Thursday morning I did a few driveway miles before work. My legs were still fairly tired and I was very content to take it easy pace-wise.

Friday – Easy: 7.5 miles (8:42 pace)

Friday morning I did another sailboat loop! See pic above (which is actually from Friday’s run anyway).

Saturday – Quality: 9 miles (3 mi. WU, 5 X 600/400, 2 mi. CD) 

I was a little bit apprehensive heading into the workout Saturday morning. It’s funny how one bad workout can really mess with your head sometimes. I wasn’t sure if that was just a fluke or if I had lost every single bit of fitness I had ever gained and was washed up forever. If you’ve been there, you understand. I’m happy to report that Saturday’s workout went really well, so I’m considering Wednesday’s flop to be a fluke … a fluke flop if you will.

This workout called for a 3 mile warm up, 5 sets of alternating 600 meter repeats and 400 meter repeats and a 2 mile cool down. The 600s were run at close to 5k pace and the 400s were run at close to 1 mile effort and thankfully there was plenty of recovery (1:30 after the 600s and 2:30 after the 400s). My pacing ended up being very consistent and I ran between 2:01-2:02 for each 600 (5:20 ish pace) and between 1:16-1:17 for each 400 (5:05 ish pace). What a relief to know that I still have it! Ha.

Sunday AM – Easy: 9 miles (8:55 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:45 pace)

I had 14 miles on the schedule Sunday. I’m pretty sure that the intent was that I would do it consecutively, but I had a presentation to give Sunday afternoon that I procrastinated preparing for until Sunday morning. In my mind, this made sense so that I would only be stressed about it for one day instead of worrying about it for several days.

I got up really early Sunday morning, but I didn’t actually get out the door to start running until about 9:30 when I finally hit a mental block on the presentation prep and needed to get out and clear my head. At that point, I didn’t have time to run for 2+ hours, finish up what I needed to do, get ready and still make it to the meeting on time, so I decided to split the run up and do the second part after the meeting. It was really nice to get out again that evening after everything was done to just relax a little bit.

Total – 62.5 miles

That’s it for now. Have a great week!

Y’all. Is it really AUGUST?!

Back in the day, I used to like to try to write a blog post at the end of each month with a monthly training summary as well as an A to Z list of that were currently on my mind. I’m bringing that back this month. Hold on to your seat!

Month Recap: July 2020

The Running

Workouts: I got in a couple good quality workouts this month and I also had a few flops. After some downtime following the final McKirdy Mile, things started to slowly ramp back up the second week of July. I found myself a tad rusty and also not remembering very clearly what certain efforts should feel like.

Favorite workout: My favorite workout this month was definitely the 16 X 200 w/ 200 float recovery workout. Call me crazy, but I have always been a huge fan of 200s. I thought this one was really fun because the hard 200s were run at closer to 5k pace (as opposed to an all out sprint) and then the recoveries were run at faster than a typical easy pace. It took some control to master this one and I was very happy with my effort and patience.

Races: No races in July … whomp, whomp. This was actually the first month of 2020 that I haven’t done some sort of race or time trial. I ran a marathon in January, a 5k in February and a 10k in March before things switched to virtual. After that, I did a 5k in March, a 10k in April, two one mile races in May and two one mile races in June. I don’t currently have any races (real or virtual) on the calendar, but I’m hopeful that we will at least get to have a few small, local races this fall. Fingers crossed!

Favorite race: Any race that I get to run in the future will definitely be my favorite!

Paces: My paces ranged from 5:42 (the first (way. too. fast!) mile of a tempo workout) to 9:32 (the second mile of a post-workout cool down).

Average Pace: My average pace for the month was 8:35.

Miles: 239 miles this month. Lower than normal, but given the mini down week in there, it makes sense.

Climbing: I got 8,536 feet of climbing in this month and most of that was on my driveway! Ha.

Breakdown: I ran on the treadmill 7 times, from home 13 times, from somewhere other than home 12 times and with friends 3 times. It’s crazy to me how much things have changed as far as running in group goes. I used to hardly ever run by myself and now I hardly ever run with anyone else. There is a season for everything I suppose.

Longest run: My longest run was 13 miles.

Shortest run: My shortest run was 3 miles.

Pilates: I went to four Pilates classes this month. I got a Pilates reformer as an early birthday present, so I also got in two sessions at home as well. It’s not commercial grade or anything super fancy, but I love having it!

The Other Stuff

Current activity: Blogging! We back!

Current book: Well, well, well. What do you know? I’m actually reading some books. Currently, I am reading, “The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home,” “The Owner-Builder Book,” “Raising Goats for Dummies” and “Influencer, Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media.”

The first two are fairly self-explanatory (as to why I am reading them, not the actual content of the books which is doing me a bit of a bamboozle). I mentioned this in a previous post, but Richard and I are planning to build a house at some point in the not-too-distant future. The goat book is unfortunately a necessary read at this point, as we just lost one of our goats and realized that there is a heck of a lot that we don’t know about raising goats. The influencer book is something that is marinating in the back of my mind. I would absolutely use this blog and various other social media platforms as a means to earn a little bit of extra money. I don’t know if that will happen, but it surely isn’t going to hurt to try. I enjoy writing regardless, so any extra money would just be a bonus at this point.

Current confession: It will probably take me until 2025 to finish those books!

Current drink: Gah. I’m loving so many drinks right now. My hydration needs are very high. I start my day with coffee (duh!) and my current flavor of choice is toasted graham. It’s delicious! Before Nuun (I couldn’t resist), I switch over to Nuun and my current flavor of choice is cherry limeade. I also sip on Bolthouse Farms protein shakes throughout the day (usually have some right when I get to the office, with lunch and as an afternoon snack). If I feeling really feisty, I will crack open an Abita Purple Haze or Andygator after work on a Friday. PAR-TAY!

Current excitement: We are going to be spending time with family that we don’t get to see often in the next two weeks. I’m really looking forward to that!

Current fail: I am having a really hard time getting pictures to upload to this post. The internet is not being my friend. Boo!

Current goal: My current goal is to incorporate drills and more strength training into my weekly routine. I’m working with a local running form coach to correct my (apparently horrible, terrible, no good, very bad) running form. I’m really curious to see how much this will help me. I’ve never been super motivated to actually work on this too much because I just told myself that what I was doing was working for me. While this may be true, what if proper form would allow me to do even more?!

Current habit: Wearing toe spacers. The things we do for our running! My big toes tend to bother me from time to time and the toe spacers are supposed to strengthen, not only your toes, but also your feet in general. I usually just wear them when I am sitting at my desk or something like that. It’s a super easy thing to do that could possibly help me in the long run (pun intended), so I’m all about it.

Current indulgence: Sleeping in. Y’all. I’ve been an EARLY morning riser for years and years, but I am thoroughly enjoying sleeping in these days. Sleeping in means getting up at 5:30 instead of 4. It is glorious!

Current joke: What do you call a magic dog? A Labracadabrador. 

Current knowledge: Life can only be understood looking backwards, but it must be lived looking forwards. I don’t know if anything has ever resonated more with me than this sentiment.

Current list: We’ve got a decent list of tasks that need to be done around the house (aka “the farm”) and they need to be done asap because Richard’s family will be here next week. Yay!

Current motto: Trust the timing of your life.

Current need: I need to figure out what’s for dinner. Ideas?!

Current obsession: My planner!

Current procrastination: Getting my oil changed. Yes. I know this is horrible. I typically stay on top of it, but somehow I found myself well overdue for an oil change and I have not done anything to remedy the situation.

Current quote: This one is really speaking to me right now. “One day you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through and it will be someone else’s survival guide.”

Current rave: We got a Sam’s Club membership! I’ve always wanted to be a member of Sam’s Club and I can finally cross this one off my bucket list. Ha!

Current song: A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega by Ashley McBryde! But really, it is anything and everything by Ashley McBryde. I can’t get enough.

Current time: It’s just after 1330 on Saturday. Me thinks it may be time for a little snoozle.

Current uncertainty: Hmm. Is anything in life certain right now?! Ha.

Current vegetable: Cucumbers from our garden! I’m fairly certain I have eaten five entire cucumbers in the last week. I slice them up and put them in apple cider vinegar. They are so good!

Current want: I want to have more time at home. I know that a lot of people have had a whole lot of time at home recently and probably think this sounds crazy, but it is what I really wish I had more of. This is probably one of those things where it just seems like the grass is greener on the other side. I’m trying my best to happy with my own grass and remember that the grass on the other side is probably only greener because it is AstroTurf.

Current yearning: To make an impact. I am speaking to the local participants in the Distinguished Young Women program tomorrow afternoon and I truly hope that I can have a positive impact on them.

Current zone: Relaxed …

Thank you so much for reading and following along. Please tell me something you are currently loving or looking forward to!

Hey friends! It seems as if my weekly training log posts are the only consistent posts I can get done at this point, but hey, it’s better than nothing. I’m just easing back in and finding my rhythm with blogging (or something like that). Anyway, here is what this week’s training looked like!

Monday – Easy: 8 miles (8:55 pace)

It seems as if Monday has become the day of the evening run. I’ve really been enjoying sleeping in lately. I feel like life in general has slowed down a little bit for everyone and I’m not sad about it. Without any races on the calendar, I don’t feel any need to get up and get the miles in before work. I have plenty of time after work to get it done, so it really works out quite nicely.

John (my coach) actually called while I was out running Monday evening, which was great. We chatted for over half an hour, which was also over half of my run. I figured if I couldn’t carry on a conversation while I was running, then I wasn’t doing my easy run easy enough (not that this is typically a problem for me at all). We talked about the workouts that I have coming up and kinda what the general plan would be for the rest of the summer and early fall.

We are going to build up my mileage some over the next six weeks, while still focusing on speed. I might do another one mile time trial and maybe a 5k time trial on the track at end of the six weeks, but nothing before that. After that, the plan is to move into more of a “specific” phase of training shifting the focus to threshold and half marathon work. If I can find a half marathon to race at the end of the year, that would be great! If not, it’s no big deal either as I’d probably choose to just do a time trial for that as well if it comes down to it.

Tuesday AM – Easy: 6 miles (8:58 pace) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:53 pace)

Tuesday morning I got out and got 6 driveway miles in. Richard has been working really hard on the driveway and while the purpose of that is not to make it better for my running, that has been a nice unintended benefit. The road is much smoother now and the grade is more gradual. Obviously I still have to climb the same amount, but now the hills are just a little bit longer and less steep. I’m totally cool with that!

I did an easy double on the treadmill Tuesday evening. I get really excited when new episodes of the Up + Running Podcast drop on Tuesdays and I sometimes find myself wanting to run again just so that I can listen to the podcast. Tuesday also happens to be the day in my schedule that most easily allows for a double run anyway, so I guess it’s just meant to be.

I also got back into my core routine and did 5 minutes of planks and some stretching after my run. The next step is going to be to incorporate “drills” into my routine. I’ve never done drills before (even though just about every coach I’ve ever worked with has suggested them (insert facepalm)). It’s an area that I can definitely improve upon.

Wednesday – Quality: 3 mi. WU, 16 X 200 w/ 200 float, 3 mi. CD

I did a decent job of getting up and getting out the door early enough on Wednesday morning to get my track workout in. I likely should’ve gone a tad earlier, given that my workout overlapped with the high school cross county practice a little bit. By the time they showed up, I only had 2 more repeats to go and I was totally in the zone, so I just went with it.

The workout called for a 3 mile warm up, 16 X 200 meters at close to 5k pace with a 200 meter float recovery at “slower than marathon pace but faster than easy pace” and a 3 mile cool down. My goal for the 200s “on” was 40 seconds (5:22 pace) and my goal for the 200s “off” was 52-55 seconds (6:45 to 7:30 pace). I honestly don’t think I could do this again if I tried, but my first 12 repeats were all 40-41 seconds (the last 4 were slightly faster, but at that point I knew I had executed the workout properly and I had the ability to pick it up) and all of my floats were between 50-55 seconds.

I am really dang pleased with and proud of this workout, especially since my last workout before this one was such a flop. I was smooth and in control of the pace the entire time. I also had patience in the first few repeats to keep it in the prescribed range. Patience is not one of my virtues, so this was a big deal. In fact, I should probably mark it on my calendar as the day that I had patience and it paid off. Ha!

Thursday AM – Easy: 6 miles (8:47 pace) + PM – Pilates!

Thursday morning I got in some quiet driveway miles. I usually listen to a podcast or music when I run, but sometimes I like to just be alone with my thoughts. It was definitely a very peaceful way to start the day. I continued with my planks as well and got 6 minutes of planking done after my run.

Friday – Easy: 6 miles (8:52 pace)

Sometimes we get off work a tad early on a summer Friday. Granted this year has been a little wacky with the tax deadline in July … but that’s neither here nor there at this point. I got off early enough to get several errands knocked off of my list, to get 6 easy miles in and to get back home not too much later than I would’ve on a normal day. Sweet!

Saturday – Quality: 10 miles (3 mi. WU, 4 miles @ MP, 8 X 200, 2 mi. CD) 

Saturday’s workout ended up being a bit of a “fly by the seat of my pants” sort of thing. I was supposed to have a track workout of alternating 600 and 400 meter repeats and I was actually really looking forward to it. Against my better judgement, I went to a different track than where I have been going recently and it ended up not working out for me to run there. Such a bummer!

I checked my training plan and found a workout two weeks out that was going to be on the road, so I made the executive decision to switch the workouts. The better decision, according to my coach after-the-fact, would’ve been to just do the workout that was scheduled based on time instead of distance. I really want to do that one on the track though, so I am still okay with my decision (as was he). If I had a big goal race coming up, I would not have switched the workouts like that, but during this phase of “base” or “fundamental” training, it’s not really a big deal.

My new and improved workout called for 4 miles at marathon pace followed by 8 X 200 meter repeats. My splits for the “marathon pace” miles were 6:13, 6:19, 6:05 and 6:06. The first two miles had some uphills, the third mile was pancake flat and the last mile had a decent downhill stretch. I’m thinking this is actually somewhere between marathon pace and threshold effort. I know that there is no way I could’ve run that pace for 22 more miles in those conditions (76 degrees and 95 percent humidity). I’m also not training for a marathon right now (or possibly ever again (I kid … kinda)), so obviously I shouldn’t be able to run 22 more miles at that pace. Duh! I do think I could’ve held that pace for at least an hour, but that would’ve probably still been a bit challenging. Either way, it was a solid four miles.

The 8 X 200 meter repeat portion of the workout was definitely far from perfect. I found a flat portion of road with minimal traffic that seemed to be about 200 meters and just went with it. I basically ran 40 second repeats each time and I’m not exactly sure what the distance was in meters. I did still have some turnover in my legs, which was a nice surprise (a real nice surprise!). I averaged 5:26 pace for those repeats, but the actual paces varied from 5:08 (the last one) to 5:58 (the first one). One thing is for sure and that is my legs were TOAST on the cool down. I basically shuffled 2 miles and called it a day.

Sunday – Easy: 13 miles (8:43 pace)

After my workout Saturday morning, John asked if I would be up for a run of close to 2 hours on Sunday. I told him that I could definitely try. I did one of those things where I do the opposite of what I should do and I started my run at 10:30 a.m. I mean, I did really enjoy sleeping in and piddling around the house before I started, but this was a bit excessive. If I’m being honest, the run really wasn’t as terrible as it likely should’ve could’ve been. It was 84 degrees, but the humidity was *only* 75 percent. My unprofessional opinion at this point is that if it is super hot, you are likely okay to do an easy run, but I would not recommend attempting any sort of quality session.

Total – 64 miles

That’s it for now. Have a great week!

Hey friends! Coming at you today with the latest and greatest installment of the weekly training log posts.

Monday – Easy: 7 miles (8:39 pace)

Monday was the Monday-est of all Mondays. We had a major storm blow through late Sunday evening that messed the driveway up again (after Richard worked ALL weekend to get it back into good shape nonetheless). We woke up Monday morning to a leaking roof, a live power line down in the yard and a four-wheeler that wouldn’t crank. Yikes. I found myself, yet again, unsure of how exactly I would be able to get to work. Needless to say, I didn’t get a run in before work, but thankfully the driveway held up much better than expected and I was actually able to get my car out without too much difficulty (shout out to all-wheel drive!).

In this weird year we are living in, this week was the tax deadline week and work was quite hectic. I was more than ready to get out and run a few miles after wrapping it up for the day. I’ve got a nice little route that I can run from work that is all either on sidewalks or in neighborhoods. It’s really nice to just be able to change real quick and head straight out the door.

Tuesday AM – Quality: 9 miles (3 mi. WU, 10 X 1:00, 3 mi. CD) + PM – Easy: 5 miles (8:42 pace)

I had a workout on the schedule Tuesday morning and I started out feeling a bit sluggish. I’m sure this had something to do with only having a 12 hour turnaround between runs. That’s one thing that can get a bit tricky with running in the evenings on some days and in the mornings on other days. Once I actually started the pickups, I felt fine though, so maybe I just needed to get warmed up.

The pickups were supposed to be done at marathon pace, but I found it really hard to settle in to marathon pace for one minute at a time. Typically in a marathon pace workout you gradually work down to the pace and then you sustain it for a long period of time. I ran the first interval close to what my goal pace was and then I ended up being closer to threshold pace for the remainder of the intervals, averaging 5:45 for the 10 intervals. Similar to last week’s 10 X 30 second workout, I ran in my regular trainers and I didn’t seek out a flat route, so I was definitely happy with how this one went down all things considered.

Tuesday evening I did an easy double, mainly just trying to kill a little bit of time after work before my grocery pickup slot. I found myself going back to some older Patreon episodes of Lindsey’s podcast that I hadn’t listened to and oddly enough, in one of the monthly catch up chats, she and Lauren actually talked about me. So random. They were talking about how much I have improved as a runner since I was on the show (little do they know about all the ways I’ve improved as a person as well :)), but Lindsey described me as “the girl with the tragic story,” which was not my favorite thing to hear. I see my story as more triumphant than tragic and I was disappointed to hear her describe it as such. Otherwise, they were complimentary, so I guess I shouldn’t focus on the one negative thing.

Wednesday – Easy: 6 miles (8:53 pace)

Wednesday morning I did an easy run from home. When I run from home I get a decent amount of climbing in (decent for Alabama anyway!). This run was just over 500 feet of climbing in 6 miles. I feel like all of the hill running that I have done in the last year has really helped me become a stronger runner. I changed so many variables in a seemingly short period of time that it’s really hard to know exactly what has actually been productive and what has potentially been pointless. Either way, I’m going to keep on keeping on as long as the results keep coming.

Thursday AM – Easy: 3 miles (9:06 pace) + PM – Pilates!

I did a very short, very easy run on the treadmill Thursday morning to give my legs a little break before the doozy of a workout that I had on tap for Friday.

Speaking of strength, there is no doubt in my mind that Pilates has played a vital role in the strength gaining process. I’m coming up on my two year Pilateversary (don’t even try to tell me that’s not a real thing), meaning that I’ve been doing Pilates once a week for two years now. Obviously I have missed a few weeks here and there, but for the most part I have been very consistent with it. I have a feeling that my Pilates budget might be on the chopping block once we get into this whole house building process, but I’m going to soak it all in while I can.

Friday – Quality: 8 miles (3 mi. WU, 2 miles @ threshold, 3 mi. CD) 

I was off work Friday and I waited ENTIRELY too late to start the workout. I wanted to spend a little bit of time with Richard that morning, while I knew I was going to suffer once I finally got out there, I convinced myself that it would be worth it. It definitely was not. Ha!

My workout was supposed to be a 2 mile warm up, 5k at threshold pace and a 2 mile cool down. The goal pace for the threshold miles was 5:50 and the workout notes simply said to ease into it. I decided to ease into it by working my way down into the low 7 minute range on the warm up. I felt good, but was definitely feeling the heat. The actual temperature was 81 with a feels like temperature of 89 degrees at this point and there was little to no shade on my route.

I honestly have no idea how this happened, but I ran a 5:42 first mile. I felt smooth and in control, but apparently was not quite ready to sustain that for two more miles. My next mile was 6:00 and I was working way too hard for threshold effort. I don’t know how the first mile felt so effortless and the second one felt so labored, but it is what it is. I decided that 2 miles at threshold was plenty and skipped the last quality mile. I rarely do this, but given the heat, I think it was the right decision. Not all workouts go as planned, but you definitely learn more from the ones that don’t go as planned.

I needed a reality check on both my pacing and my procrastinating. Lessons learned.

Saturday – Easy: 10 miles (9:10 pace) 

Saturday’s run was a very special one! I got to run with several of my best running buddies on our bachelorette weekend. We had one bride to be and one bride “after the fact” (me!). Our trip was originally planned for mid-April, but we rescheduled because of the virus. I don’t know that things are actually any better at this point, but we took as many precautions as we possibly could to minimize interaction with the outside world. I pretty much live a hermit lifestyle as it is, so this entire “quarantine” hasn’t looked that much different than regular life for me. Work went on as it always has and that’s pretty much the only place I go.

I have been doing the majority of my runs solo these days, which not only is a huge change from years past, but also makes each run where I get to be with friends even sweeter. 10 miles is the longest run I have done in over a month and I was feeling both the previous day’s workout and the rooster incident. It was nice to get a double digit run in and then even nicer to have the rest of the day to relax. We spent some time on the beach and I got in a glorious little snoozle. I was a happy camper!

Sunday – Easy: 7 miles (11:02 pace)

Sunday morning a few of us ventured out for another “vacation” run before we headed home. I even managed to trick convince Rebecca to join me for a few miles on the beach. Beach running on the Gulf Coast is HARD. The sand, while beautiful, is super soft and not very conducive to running. We had a few small mishaps (one that closely resembled a game of dominoes), but otherwise we had a blast!

Total – 55 miles

Have a great week!

Hey friends!

This week was the first week of a new training cycle, so it seems like a fairly fitting time to ease back in with some weekly training logs. As I mentioned in my previous post, my short-term goal is to continue to focus on the speed stuff (i.e., one mile and 5k). I had a bit of a down week after the final McKirdy Mile race and this week began the process of building things back. We went out of town for the Fourth of July, which worked out well as far as not having any major workouts on the calendar.

When we got back in town last weekend, we discovered that it had rained a good bit while we were gone and that the driveway had gotten very messy (to put it lightly). For some context here, we live at the end of a one mile long, hilly, winding dirt road. If we know it’s going to rain and we’re going to have issues, we typically leave a car in a safe place out in civilization on dryer ground.

Here is what training looked like the week of 07.06.20 – 07.12.20:

Monday – Easy: 4 miles (7:25 pace)

We went out to check the driveway first thing Monday morning and as we suspected, there was no way either of us were going to be able to get our vehicles out. We got stuck (in a 4WD truck no less) and had to be pulled in on our way back home Sunday evening, so I knew that there was a good possibility it would still be a no-go come Monday morning. At that point, my thoughts shifted from am I going to be able to run today to how in the world am I going to get to work today and the latter had to take precedence. Richard ended up taking me out to the “paved road” on the four-wheeler and my boss’ wife came and picked me up (that’s a serious employee perk right there, folks).

I did actually manage to get 4 miles in on the treadmill after work. By that point, I was kinda just over the day, but also kinda just wanted to run off some steam. I ran this easy run much faster than I typically do, but my legs felt good and I just went with it. As a side note, I am planning to use the surveyor’s wheel to measure the accurateness of my treadmill in the not too distant future. I know that it is off, but I don’t know how much. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, but somehow it keeps getting overlooked on the priority list.

Tuesday – Easy: 7 miles (7:25 pace) 

For years and years, I was almost exclusively a morning runner, but it seems like I am trending a little bit more towards being an evening runner at this point. I’m going to attribute it on the long daylight hours that we get to enjoy this time of year. I find myself up way later than usual and subsequently not wanting to wake up any earlier than necessary the next morning.

Tuesday evening I did another quick for me easy run. For what it is worth, VDOT has my easy range as 7:01 to 7:45, so technically my runs on Monday and Tuesday were within the prescribed limits, but I am usually closer to the 8:30 to 8:45 range on most of my easy runs.

Wednesday – Easy: 6 miles (8:23 pace)

I actually got up and got moving early enough Wednesday to get in a few treadmill miles before work. It was raining and our road was still not drive-able or run-able, so that was pretty much my only option. I am very thankful for the treadmill when I need it. I don’t prefer to run on it, but any run is better than no run. Am I right or am I right?

Thursday AM – Easy: 5 miles (8:06 pace) + PM – Easy: 4.5 miles (9:05 pace)

I ran on the treadmill again Thursday morning. We had a really soggy week, which exacerbated the driveway situation. If it had been dry, I think we would’ve been back in business in a day or two, but instead it went on for four. Thank goodness for the four-wheeler!

I did an unplanned double Thursday evening. My coach gives me the flexibility to add a few miles in here and there as I see fit as long as I don’t go overboard with it. I really appreciate having a little bit of wiggle room in a training plan. I’m sure this is some sort of control issue, but I really just like to be able to decide for myself how much to run based on how I feel sometimes. As long as you stay within the general parameters of the plan, I think this works nicely.

My unplanned run was actually a run with a purpose. I ran out and back on the driveway twice. Once to retrieve the four-wheeler that I had left out there that morning and then to retrieve the tractor that Richard had left out there that morning. If you had told me two years ago that I would need to take a tractor or a four-wheeler in any capacity to get to work, I would’ve looked at you like you had five heads. And yet, here we are!

Friday – Quality: 5.5 miles (2 mi. WU, 10 X 30 seconds, 1 mi. CD) 

Friday morning was my first tiny quality session of the new training cycle. It was nothing major, but I was super pumped about the idea of snagging some extra endorphins! My workout was a 2 mile warm up, 10 X 30 seconds at threshold pace with 1:15 jogging recoveries and a 1 mile cool down. I was finally able to run outside from home on Friday, which was really nice.

It seems that I have also gotten super lazy about how far I am willing to travel for a workout at this point. Lazy probably isn’t the right word, but it’s also not wrong. I feel like I will probably get back to the super early wake up calls and driving to meet friends to get the workouts in midweek eventually, but for right now, it just feels right to stay close by.

My workout was fine, but ironically was nothing to really write home about. My goal pace for the pickups was 5:22 and I averaged 5:42. I didn’t seek out a super flat route and I ran in my regular trainers, so I honestly wasn’t expecting to run super fast. It felt good to pick the pace up even for just half a minute and I feel like the intent of the workout was definitely accomplished.

Saturday – Easy: 9 miles (8:38 pace) 

I got in a bit of a longer run from home Saturday morning. We were under a heat advisory all weekend, so I tried to get out there and knocked out before it got too toasty. I listened to Lindsey’s podcast w/ Mary Cain and it was really good. Her story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It’s sad that she had to endure such abuse, but it’s also amazing that she has come out on the other side and that she has been able to help so many other athletes in similar circumstances. I’ve listened to her story on several podcasts at this point and she seems genuinely kind and down to earth and always brings a lot of wisdom. I’m a big fan.

Sunday – Easy: 6.3 miles (9:08 pace)

Sunday morning I got in a [socially distanced] run with friends! Our runs together are few and far between at this point, which is sad, but luckily these are the types of friendships where you can just pick back up right where you left off and never miss a beat. Afterwards we sat outside and had some good old-fashioned coffee + conversations, which is also a rarity these days.

As long as nothing drastic changes in the next week (which I feel has to be said at this point because who the heck really knows what sort of changes any given week can bring), we are headed to the beach for a joint “bachelorette party.” And yes, I am already married, but Lizzie isn’t (at least not that we know of :)), so it still works. Plus celebrating the end of tax season in July and having a bachelorette party after your wedding just seems like such a 2020 thing to do. Hashtag that’s so 2020.

Total – 47.3 miles

Have a great week!

Just over a year ago, after 6 months of not posting, I wrote a post saying that I was “back” to blogging. In my defense, I also said that I didn’t know exactly what it would look like. Apparently what it would look like is a few posts and then nothing for another year. I can’t tell you how many times I have gone back and forth and back and forth some more about whether I wanted to continue to blog or even be on the internet period. Indecisive much? Yep! At one point, I took down ALL social media (were are talking no Facebook, no Instagram, no Strava, no blog, no nothing). At the time, I think it’s EXACTLY what I needed. I even went without TV or internet at home for over a year! It was quite refreshing.

I’ve had a few big life changes (i.e., I got married and moved). With all the changes going on, I just didn’t have time or energy to devote to the blog. There was also the whole no internet thing that made it slightly problematic. Ha. At this point, I can honestly say that I miss blogging and connecting with random strangers on the internet. During the time that I wasn’t blogging, I even had the opportunity to meet a couple of my “blog friends” in real life. The connections were priceless and wouldn’t have existed at all if it wasn’t for this blog. Pretty cool!

So here I am, sitting in my She Shack (think She Shed, but more redneck), telling you once again that I am “back.” I see myself writing weekly training logs, monthly recaps, race recaps (if we ever get to have races again!), etc. You know, typical running blogger stuff. I also see myself writing more about projects and things we are doing at home. In the last year we planted a garden, birthed baby goats (triplets!), got some ducks, built a barn and built a shop. It was a busy year! Our next big project is going to be to build a house. I would love to document that process and our progress here. The plan is to do it as an owner-builder with hopes of saving a substantial amount of money. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never built a house before and this will definitely be learning process for me. Oh and apparently, I am in charge of the budget. This will be very interesting!

As far as running goes, in this time of no “real” races going on or coming up, I feel like I’ve been doing a fairly decent job staying motivated and I think it’s because I truly love the process of training and feel like it helps me to be the best version of myself that I can be on any given day. While I do enjoy the process, I would be lying if I said that the results don’t drive me as well, because they absolutely do. What I have actually learned over the last few months is that I am super competitive with MYSELF. I participated in a number of virtual races this Spring and I had such a good time with it (pun intended). I have run my fastest times at the 1 mile, 5k and 10k distances over the course of the last four months. I hesitate to call these races PRs as I feel that is reserved for certified courses, but there is no doubt in my mind that these were my best performances to date.

After the McKirdy Mile series this summer (four 1 mile races over the course of the last two months and actually I ran five because I am extra like that), I took a slight down week last week and this week I am starting to ramp back up again. I ran a 5:02 for my last mile in the series. Five oh freaking two. I am pretty determined to work on getting 3 seconds faster and making that a 4:59 by the end of the summer. I would also really like to “race” (i.e., time trial) a 5k on the track by the end of the summer as well and get just under 17 if possible. Those are my current short-term plans at least. I’d like to then progress up to a 10k and hopefully, maybe, if all the stars align and races go on, find a half marathon to do later this fall.

Testing. Testing. Is anyone out there still reading? If so, what are you training for during this time of no “real” races?!

I’m excited to be back and hopeful that this time it will actually stick! Fingers crossed.

Well hello!

I am coming at you today with a long-winded race recap of the CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. Let’s just hope that the post is less windy than race day in Indy! I don’t really even know why I am back on the blog writing this, but perhaps, “I just felt like writing.” If that last sentence conjured up some sort of mental image of Forrest Gump saying, “I just felt like running,” in your brain, then you are my people. I mean, have you really even lived if you haven’t referenced Forrest Gump in a post about running on the internet? You’re right. You really haven’t. Now, where were we? The short version is that I felt like running a marathon and subsequently felt like writing about it.

I’m finding that it’s a tad tricky to just jump back in with a race recap blog post without filling you in on some of the details along the way. I will try to be brief, but if you have read a single one of my blog posts in the past, you know that is not really my style. I seem to be flipping and flopping back and forth about whether or not I want to write about my life, training and races on the interwebs. As of right now, the answers seem to be no, maybe and yes, respectively. Ha.

Life

Seeing as how I JUST said that I don’t want to write about my life on the internet, I will actually keep this part brief. A lot of things in my life are still the same (same wonderful family, same friends, same job, same adorable doggo) and a lot of things are … well … different (new boyfriend (although he’s not really all that new at this point 😉), new home, new goats and an entire new outlook on life). I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionistic, people-pleaser and while I am sure there are still a few remnants of that hanging around, I really feel like I have started to let go of other people’s expectations about what my life should or should not look like. I am happier and more confident in myself than I ever have been and honestly, it feels REALLY GOOD.

Training

After a disappointing (yet completely expected and understandable) race at Boston, I started thinking about the idea of a fall marathon. My coach suggested Indy as a goal race and that was really all it took for me to jump on the wagon. I was even able to secure a spot in the “elite” field, which was such a wonderful experience. It should be noted that they had so many applicants for the elite field this year that they actually had to lower the time qualifications along the way. If I hadn’t signed up in May before they changed the standards, I likely wouldn’t have been accepted into the field.  

Even with a marathon on the calendar as my primary goal race, I wanted to spend the summer months focusing on speed and racing some shorter distances before building the volume up and easing into marathon training. I ran a 5k in June (my last blog post!), a 5k and a 2 mile race in August and another 5k in September. I ran 17:37, 17:36 and 17:21 for the 5ks respectively a 10:58 for the 2 mile race. I was satisfied that my speed was where it needed to be, but I knew that the bigger challenge was going to be getting my endurance up to par. Over the last couple of years, it has become increasingly evident that speed is my strength, while endurance tends to be a bit of a struggle (which is obviously not wonderful when your goal race is a marathon).

During September and October my workouts got longer as the focus shifted towards working on my stamina and being able to comfortably sustain marathon effort. A few of my key marathon pace workouts went really well, but I had a few flops too. The key ones that stand out as “good” now were 12 miles with 8 miles at marathon pace (6:09 avg.), 17 miles with 10 miles at marathon pace (6:03 avg.), 18 miles with 12 miles at marathon pace (in the form of 3 X 25 minutes (6:17 avg.)) and another 18 miles with 12 miles at marathon pace (in the form of 2 X 6 miles (6:11 avg.)).

I also had a few really, really strong threshold workouts. The threshold workouts really seemed to be my sweet spot throughout this cycle. I really wish I had gotten to do a 10k this fall because I know my threshold work had me set up for a big PR. I was supposed to run a 10k in October, but I had a minor hamstring niggle and also got a cold shortly thereafter, so I didn’t end up doing the race. I remember telling my coach that I wasn’t as disappointed about missing the race as I thought I would be because I KNEW that my fitness would be back to this same level in the future. That was a mental turning point for sure. Last fall, I distinctly remember always feeling like I would never be this fit again in my life. Getting back to that same level and even a little bit stronger this fall helped me realize that perhaps the best is still yet to come!

A few of my key threshold workouts were 12 miles with 8 miles at threshold pace (in the form of 4 X 2 miles (5:44 avg.)), 10 miles with 7 miles at threshold pace (in the form of 4 miles, 2 minute rest, 2 miles, 1 minute rest, 1 mile (5:49 avg.)), 9 miles with 6 at threshold pace (in the form of 4 miles, 3 minute rest, 2 miles (5:50 avg.), 11 miles with 10 X 1k at threshold (5:35 avg. (got a little carried away on that one)). I also did a 16 X 400 meter repeat workout not once, but TWICE during this training cycle (5:10 avg. & 5:16 avg.). Holy moly. Those were some REALLY long track workouts!

My hope going into all of this was that my fitness would reach a level that would put me in a good position to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials. In order to do this, I needed to run faster than or equal to 2:45:00, which is the women’s B-standard for 2020. My previous personal best was 2:53:05, so I needed to take just over 8 minutes off of my time. My training indicated I would be really close and I was ready to take a swing and see what happened!

Race

I mentioned earlier that I was accepted into the “elite” field in Indy and what a huge blessing this was! As it turns out, McKirdy Trained (my coaching group) had 15 athletes in the elite field and the majority of these were women. We were given bottles to use for our fuel and I was able to meet most of the other women the day before the race at either the shakeout run or at the elite athlete meeting. I really enjoyed the team vibe that we had going!

The race did a really good job hosting a whole heap of elite athletes. There were 62 women and 60 men in the elite marathon field. There were also elite fields for the half marathon as well as the 5k, so it was A LOT of runners to accommodate. I believe this was actually the first year that the entire race itself sold out with 19,000 participants! Wowza. We were asked to give a predicted finishing time for seeding purposes and I ended up with bib #61 out of 62. Ha. Like I said, got in the elite field by the skin of my chinny chin chin. For whatever it is worth, I predicted a finishing time of 2:50:00 and I’m assuming almost everyone else predicted closer to 2:45:00, as it seemed that just about everyone was gunning for an Olympic Trials Qualifier (OTQ).  

We had an elite meeting Friday evening to go over a few of the last-minute logistics (most of it had been communicated via email already). The main thing that we did at the meeting was drop off our water bottles and learn how we would actually locate them during the race. They set up 10 tables at the 10k, 20k and 30k marks. Each table had 12 bottles, 6 bottles for women on the left side and 6 bottles for men on the right side. The tables were well spaced out and the bottles on the tables were also well spaced out. We were all assigned a specific table and bottle position. I was table 10, position #1, which meant that each time we came to a fluid station, I was always going to grab the first bottle from the tenth table.

In addition to meeting several of the McKirdy Trained crew, I also got to meet up with a couple other “internet friends” that I have followed on various forms of social media on and off for years, which was wonderful. Sara and I messaged a good bit before the race and planned to pace together. After the meeting, I also got to meet Elizabeth! We had a wonderful, early dinner and then headed back to the hotel so that I could lay out my paraphernalia (and believe-you-me, it was A LOT) for the next day and get some rest.

The temperature race morning was in the twenties and it actually never got above freezing during the race. The majority of my training was done in temperatures in the seventies, so this was quite a stark contrast and shock to the system. I feel like one of the biggest challenges of the race was actually figuring out what to wear. Minor details … running 26.2 miles. Major decision … WHAT DO I WEAR?! While I originally planned to wear a crop top and shorts, I also was not anticipating running in temperatures that felt like the teens when I was planning that. I ended up with a singlet instead of the crop, shorts and basically any and all sorts of extra “warming accessories” I could get my hands on. These included things such as gloves with hand warmers inside, ear muffs, a neck warmer, arm warmers, sunglasses and an extra set of hot hands tucked into my sports bra. The sunglasses helped to keep my eyes from watering (and the tears subsequently freezing on my face). I also wore a throw away jacket for a mile or two, but tossed it earlier than I expected.

The elite athletes had access to a very nice, very warm building before the race, which was nice, especially given the frigid conditions. The plan was that we would be “escorted” to the start line fifteen minutes before the race, but I was in line to go to the bathroom when they came and got everyone. I ended up making it to the start line with less than five minutes to spare, which on one hand was a teensy bit stressful, but on the other hand meant that I was in the warm building for a little bit longer than I would’ve been otherwise (and I was definitely A-Okay with that). Thankfully I was still able to find Sara, Tawny and few other women that I was planning to run with before the gun went off and it was time to get the show on the road.  

Pace-wise, my plan was to start out between 6:20 and 6:25 and gradually drop it down every six miles (or every 10k). It was supposed to look like something along the lines of 6:20 to 6:25 for the first six miles, 6:15 to 6:20 from six to twelve, 6:10 to 6:15 from twelve to eighteen and 6:00 to 6:15 from eighteen to the finish. Fueling-wise, I planned to take a gel at miles three, nine, fifteen and twenty-one as well as have my bottles (with water and fuel) at miles six, twelve and eighteen. Support-wise, I had someone to look for at miles two, six, ten, seventeen, twenty-two and twenty-six. I really like how my plan had everything spaced out, as I basically had something to think about every few miles … whether it was taking a gel, seeing Richard or his mom and dad, grabbing a bottle, dropping the pace, etc.

According to my data, our average pace for the first six miles was 6:13, but according to the race data, our average pace was 6:19. My splits were a tad wonky, so I am assuming that the race data is more accurate. While 6:19 per mile isn’t much quicker than my range of 6:20 to 6:25, in hindsight I think I really needed to be at the upper end of the range at least for the first 10k. I took a gel somewhere around mile four. I was planning to take it at mile three, but I honestly got so caught up in the race that I completely forgot! I saw Richard at mile six and was supposed to get my first bottle shortly thereafter.

This was my first time having my own bottles provided at a race and also my first time trying to grab said bottles off of a table whilst running by at a decent clip. I actually did try to practice this at home, but my version was definitely the “you might be a redneck if” version, as I was grabbing my bottles off of a step ladder and of course, there were no other bottles on the ladder. When I went to grab my first bottle in the race, I misjudged how much the hand warmers stuffed into my gloves would affect my grip. My palm (err well, the hand warmer) hit the bottle before I thought it would and instead of grabbing the bottle, I knocked it over and wasn’t able to grab it. In hindsight, I should’ve just slowed down a tad to make sure that there were no fumbles, but … oh well. I knew that there was a possibility that I would miss one of the bottles and I still had plenty of gels and other fuel ahead, so I didn’t worry too much about that one.

One of the other girls even offered to give me some of her bottle, which was incredibly kind. I didn’t know what she had in it and I didn’t want to mess up her fueling either, so I politely declined. I was still with the pack and I was feeling really good. The miles were clicking by really smoothly and quickly. There were several times where we would come to a mile marker and I would be completely surprised that we were already there. I kept thinking we were a mile or two behind where we actually were. It was always such a nice surprise … think you’re at mile eight? Nope! You’re at mile ten! Sweet! I really didn’t look at my watch at all during the race. I didn’t want to obsess over the pace or splits or how far we had been (or rather, how far we had left to go).

According to both my data, our average pace for the next six miles was 6:14. Again, while 6:14 per mile isn’t much quicker than my range of 6:15 to 6:20, I likely still needed to be at the upper end of that range. I took a gel around mile nine as planned and was extra careful when I grabbed my bottle at mile twelve. I successfully grabbed the bottle this time! However, when I tried to drink the contents, nothing came out. I don’t know if it was frozen or if I mixed it too thickly. Perhaps it was some combination of the two, although I didn’t hear anyone else say that their bottles were frozen … so maybe that wasn’t it at all. I tried my best to get anything I could out of the bottle, but I was not having much luck and it was honestly more exhausting than helpful, so I ended up just tossing the bottle.

We still had a pretty decent sized pack when we came through the half in just over 1:22. This was technically a half marathon PR for me, which seems crazy, but going into the race I knew that I would potentially be running one, if not two, half marathon PRs en route to what I hoped would be a full marathon PR as well. I didn’t do any longer races during the training cycle, but I really think that my half marathon fitness would’ve been right at or just under 1:20 if I had raced a half leading up to the marathon.

Our pack slowly started to dissipate somewhere around mile sixteen or seventeen. I felt really strong all the way to seventeen, but then I got a terrible side stitch around mile eighteen. It was bad enough that I actually stopped to stretch it out for a minute, which helped, but I couldn’t ever get back into a good groove after that point. If I hadn’t stretched it out when I did, I think it would’ve just gotten worse and potentially caused me to slow down even more. I’m still not entirely sure what caused the cramp, but I think that lack of fluids might have something to do with it. I drank a few sips of water along the way, but definitely not as much as I planned to had I been able to drink both of my first two bottles.

According to my data, my average pace for the six miles leading up to the cramp (miles twelve to eighteen) was 6:24. This means that I ran eighteen miles at 6:17 average, which oddly enough is the EXACT pace that I needed to run in order to get the OTQ. Granted I didn’t know this at the time, nor would I have been able to hold that pace if I had known, but still … it’s at least promising that I did what I needed to for that many miles.

At this point, I was running pretty much alone. Every now and then I would either pass someone or get passed by someone, but I was never in a group again. Unfortunately, it also got pretty windy at this point as well, making things even more challenging. I needed someone to block the wind for me, but I didn’t have any luck with that. I had been decently warm up until this point as well, but once the wind came out, I got really chilly. Miles nineteen to twenty-six were all about survival.

I knew that I wasn’t going to get the OTQ, but I also knew that I could probably still get a PR if the wheels didn’t fall off too badly. I averaged 6:46 for these miles and I’m really proud of that. When I got the side stitch, it would’ve been really easy to just “give up” and jog it in (or you know, not finish the race like I did in Boston), but instead I kept fighting! I ended up working with a couple of other girls during the last two miles, which was really nice. One of us would lead for a bit and then another would pull ahead for a bit and so on. I didn’t know these girls, but in my mind, we were working together. My hamstring also started to get really tight during the last two miles as well, but it wasn’t debilitating. Again, I just knew that I had to keep on fighting.

I fought my way to a 4-minute PR and a sub 2:50 marathon (official time was 2:49:16). I was SO HAPPY when I got to the finish line. This was like one of those on cloud nine, over the moon, super-duper elated happies. While I didn’t get the OTQ I was hoping for, I did run a faster marathon than I ever have before and I gave it my very best effort on the day that I was given. I am simultaneously thrilled with my race and excited to take the lessons that I learned and put them to good use.

What’s next you ask? Oh … you didn’t ask … well, let’s just pretend, shall we? I am planning to run the Louisiana Marathon in Baton Rouge on January 19, 2020, which is actually the last day that you can earn a qualifying time to run in the U.S. Olympic Trials for 2020. I feel like I have nothing to lose at this point and as long as I can stay happy and healthy during the training, I might as well give it one more shot. Who knows what the standard will be 4 years from now and who knows where my life will look like 4 years from now?! For now, I stand by my sentiment from earlier that the best is still yet to come.