5K to Marathon

Once upon a time, before I knew anything about running...

April 2007. Finishing time: 37:50 a pace of 12:12

Jenny's time: 37:53

April 2008. Finishing time: 56:39 a pace of 18:14

Jenny's time: 44:05 a pace of 14:11

I do believe I walked this one, if I remember right. 

I think I walked it with my friend Becky, pictured above.

By the way, Jenny - just got herself a new PR at this years New Path 5K!!! 37:23!!! I'm so proud of her!!! Someday, I'll get to run it with her again and we're gonna crush it! :)

I didn't do any further 5K's until October 2011, when I did the one for Breast Cancer on the base. I did a few other 5K's on base, but I have no photos of those and the only one I remember my time on was my fastest. That was May 2012 and my time was 32:45. That was a memorable run for me. My friend Amy knew I was aiming to beat my previous time, and I don't remember what that was, but she finished before me and waited to see if I accomplished my goal. It was the first time anyone had been at the finish line for me. Made my day. 

The next race I have pictures of is my first 1/2 marathon with my sister Holly. We did not properly train for this and we wore shoes that had not yet been ran in. Thankfully, our feet were only sore and did not suffer too much. By this time I had learned a little bit about running clothes and had purchased a pair of Nike running tights...I still wear them! I also had purchased 2 Nike running tops, one short sleeve, one long - in case it was cold. After all it was Missouri in December. However it was a nice 57 degrees and sunny. I actually got hot. 

December 18 2011. Finishing times: 3:24:56 a pace of 15:38

We did the whole thing together and crossed that finish line together too!

I believe Holly was the best person I could have ever ran my 1st marathon with. She was motivational, encouraging and hilarious! She would pick people out of the race that we HAD to beat and she just kept me moving the whole time. I had asked her to do a 5K with me...I thought she was nuts when she suggested a 1/2 marathon, but man, do I love her for it. It was a challenge and we completed it. 

We had 3 goals that day: 

1. Finish
2. Finish in under 4 hours
3. Inspire our Mom

I am pretty sure we succeed in all 3 goals. We learned a lot about ourselves and running that day. I'll never forget it. I hope to someday run with her again when I live back in the USA. I sure do miss her.

The next 5K, I did was actually a mud run obstacle course. My first experience with that and I did it with the RAF Running Club. It was great to go with the group. It was so much fun. I thought it was the craziest way ever to celebrate Mother's Day, but hey! We had a blast. 

May 13th 2012. Finishing time: 56:23 a pace of 18:11

I will be doing Mad Monk again this very weekend. I'm excited but not looking forward to that darn river. It's freezing! And this year they have this!!! Burrrrrrrrrr....I'm cold just looking at it.

The next supposedly 5K (I think it was longer) I did was the Spartan Race. I signed my husband up to do it with me...without asking him first haha. He did and it was fun to have him with me for it. 

July 29th 2012. Finishing time: 2:01:36 a pace of 39:13 haha

David's time: 2:01:38

I know some probably do that for time, but we were just doing it for fun and the experience. There were a lot of obstacles, however we waited in this line in this tunnel forever! So if you want to do a race like that for a time, go in the very first heat -otherwise you might be stuck waiting in line and singing silly songs. 

The next race I was brave enough to attempt was a Sprint Triathlon! Yep, I'm nuts! All I gotta say bout that.

September 15th 2012. Finishing time: 1:11:41 

1 minute and some change shy of my 1:10 goal.

For some reason I signed up for a 5K Zombie run...I could care less about Zombie's, but it was another running club thing and I thought, "oh it will be fun, why not". It was entertaining that is for sure. Downfall? It was the day before Run to the Beat. Trail running with bad knee the day before a 1/2 marathon - dumb idea. Lessons learned tho.

October 27th 2012. Finishing time: 1:05:15 a pace of 21:2

Next day, London's Run to the Beat 1/2 Marathon. I was really excited about this one. Sadly, I was injured. However, that did not stop me. A lot of things almost stopped me that day. 

1. It was freezing cold.
2. My knee was already hurting & I was wearing a brace.
3. I was all alone. The running club was there but I arrived after and could not find them. I was really missing Holly & I almost asked David to just take me home several times. 
4. I kept thinking "I don't have to do this". 
5. ...and more!

However, I stood in line waiting to start, all by myself, freezing and contemplating my escape. Somehow my escape went across the start line and so off I went. I made it to mile 3 ready to be done and thinking, when I see David at mile 7 I will just have him take me home. He wasn't at mile 7. I didn't see him until mile 9/10 and by then I thought well I might as well finish this thing. So I did. It was however a brutal race for me. I wanted so badly to finish in 2:30 but I realized I wasn't going to make it. I thought I might be close enough to hit 2:45 and so I was pushing for that when my phone died and left me without music and my shoe came untied. Mile 12 and I did not like each other. 

October 28th 2012. Finishing time: 2:54:37 a pace of 13:19

It was not a pretty finish. The clock read 3:16 if I remember right and it just crushed me. I thought, no way! My phone can not be that far off the time. I didn't realize the time would be different according to when you started. It was my first big race. However, after seeing that time...getting through there and to David without totally breaking down and losing it was extremely difficult. He kept telling me I did it and I was just wanting to cry, "No I didn't! The clock said 3:16!" I learned a lot that day. I can do far more than I imagined. I'm tougher than I thought and I can even run 13.1 by myself. It's more fun with friends, but I can do it alone.

My next run was a really short Santa Run with my son. I've no time or distance for this one as there was an accident that day and our entire route got shortened by a great deal. We had a great turn out from the running club!

After that I did not enter another race until the Cambridge 1/2 Marathon & Relay. I did it as a relay with members from the running club, my first experience with that and I rather enjoyed it...as you can tell, cause I'm actually smiling! I ran 4.4 miles. It was freezing and snowing that day too! Crazy!

March 10th 2013. Finishing time: 56:51 a pace of 12:55

Now, we come to my 3rd 1/2 marathon. The Reading Half. This was also a running club event. I was once again chasing that 2:30 time. I'm still chasing it. :) It rained the entire race. We were soaked through to the bone. However, the spectators were amazing and there were great bands along the way. I ran with my friend Jessica and together we chased that 2:30 time. We started to slow down about mile 9 as Jessica was not feeling well. At mile 12, I went ahead of her and I'm really glad I did, watching her finish was a great blessing to me. 

March 17th 2013. Finishing time: 2:42:49 a pace of 12:25

Jessica's finishing time: 2:45:45

Then came the BIG one!!! The Paris marathon. I still have no idea what I was thinking. I have no official finishing time for this race as I did not complete it within the 6 hour time limit and my Garmin died at 5 hours. Therefore, I am chasing a 5 hour marathon.

Fitness competition: Ultra Eagle Competition. I'll tell you more about this in another post.

April 26th 2013. Finishing time 29:25

I've come a real long way since April 2007. Sometimes you just have to sit down and take a look at all your progress. You may feel like you are going no-where, making no improvements, getting stuck in a rut...but if you just keep truckin' along you will soon find out that you've come a lot further than you imagined. Don't let negativity in or you will become your own worst enemy.

I'm still chasing a few things down and one of these days, I'll catch them. Until then, I'll just keep truckin' right on down the road...one foot after the other. 

1. What keeps you motivated?

2. What keeps you signing up for event after event?

3. Do you see your own progress or do you need to sit down and take a look too?