Running Mama-in-Training: I DID IT!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

I DID IT!

I am still processing everything....and I don't have time for a full-out post and wrap-up of last weekend....

But I'll say this....
I FINISHED!

I finished in 4 hours, 1 minute, and 4 seconds (and yes...those extra 64 seconds past the 4 hour mark will forever plague me!)...but...

I HAD A BLAST!

...and YES....I WILL run more marathons! Where will #2 be?! Stay tuned!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from the weekend....
My running shoes, geared up and ready to go the night before! Chip in place, and "speed bead" in place....a good-luck gift from my good friend Jillian!

Silly fleece ear thingie! So it was FREEZING that weekend....and so we went to Dick's to get some of those hand warmer packet things...and I realized I didn't bring a headband thing to get my ears warm...this was on clearance for 98 cents, so I snagged it up...expecting to throw it away after a few miles. I ended up wearing good ol' Shootin' Hoops the entire race! Best 98 cents spent ever ;)

Here I am around 7am before the race...a little nervous...and lookin' LARGE in my many layers!

Jeremy snapped this photo around the 20-mile mark, where I saw him for the 1st time. Here's what I wrote about this photo when I posted it on Facebook:

"I should probably be embarrassed by how terrible I look here...but I guess I am not ;). This is right by the 20-mile mark, where I saw Jeremy. Please note the piles of clothing that are still in place...as it was FREEZING. I am wearing a size XL long-sleeved shirt that I got for free at the marathon expo the day before...apparently they had gads of XL shirts leftover at the Chicago half marathon in Sept...so they gave them away to expo-attendees. I grabbed one, thinking it would be a good shirt to wear and throw away once I warmed up. I never really did warm up, so it stayed on. I was rather disappointed that I never got to sport the cute green Lake Run Club tank I was wearing underneath!You know you're getting OLD when you DO sacrifice fashion for comfort...(let's not even get started about the blue "shootin' hoops" headband that is on, with pink hat over that....)"

And, here I am after successfully completing my first marathon! I was not even thinking about photos, but thankfully Steve (a good friend who accompanied us) offered to take a picture...thanks, Steve, for thinking of it!!! You are awesome! I LOVE this photo :)

And there you have it! More details on the actual race later...

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Current PRs

1 mile - 6:17 (Main Street Mile, Peoria IL, July 2014)
5k - 20:20 (Evergreen Lake 5k, Hudson, IL, August 5, 2017)
4 mile - 27:32 (FOLEPI River Trail Classic, East Peoria, IL, November 25, 2017)
8k - 39:02 (Da Deer Run Run 8k Trail Race, Hudson, IL, December 2017)
5 mile - 35:34 (Park2Park, Bloomington-Normal, IL, July 4, 2017)
10k - 44:30 (Run for Hope, Bloomington, IL, March 26, 2017)
7 mile - 49:39 (Bix 7, Davenport, Iowa, July 29, 2017)
12k - 53:18 (Lake Run, Hudson, IL, May 6, 2017)
15k - 1:08:22 (Steamboat Classic, Peoria, IL, June 17, 2017)
13.1 - 1:33:39 (Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon, Springfield, IL, April 1, 2017)
26.2 - 3:23:07 (U of I Marathon, Champaign, IL, April 22, 2017)
Sprint Triathlon - 1:17:48 (Tri Shark, Hudson, IL, June 2015)
Olympic Triathlon - 2:59:39 (2013)
70.3 (Half Iron Tri) - 6:00:51 (Ironman Racine 70.3, Racine, WI, July 2013)
140.6 (Iron distance Tri) - 14:35:18 (Ironman Wisconsin, Madison, WI, September 2013)

Hello there!

Welcome to my little corner of the Internet:). I am by no means one of the more skilled runners in this big, awesome world of athletes...but am not lacking in passion regarding the sport.

I have eleven(stand-alone) marathons, three half-Iron distance tri's, one full-Iron and countless smaller races under my belt...but I am quite quick to say I am NO means much of an "authority" on running/triathlon! However...I find much delight in training and racing and truly enjoy sharing my love of running with others. One of the things that makes me the very happiest in the whole-wide-world is when a friend joins me and runs his/her first race! Being with someone at their very first race (or first race of a new-to-them distance) and seeing the joy of their personal accomplishment is an incredible feeling.

My "running history" is pretty unremarkable. I ran track in the 8th and 9th grades, but was painfully mediocre. When it came time to run the mile in PE class, I was less than thrilled. I tended to take the path of least resistance when it came to anything remotely "athletic" throughout high school. I enjoyed some aspects of sports...mostly just the social aspect, though, and most definitely not the sweaty aspects. Something, though, changed during my undergrad years....I began running for fun. A mile here, three miles there...running became an outlet for my brain that had become fried by academics and the mental anguish of constant thoughts of "what am I going to do with this life of mine?" (I changed my major three times).

I began running the Bix 7 race in Davenport, Iowa each July (in the summer of 2015 I completed my 12th consecutive Bix and am somewhat proud to say I consistently run that 7-mile race in under an hour...when I first ran the Bix in 2004, that "under an hour" goal seemed insurmountable!)...and found myself looking forward to it. During graduate school at Purdue University, I began running even more. I ran to stay in shape, and I ran to de-stress. Running became a much-needed constant in my life. Later, having declared 2009 as a "year of firsts" for myself...I registered for my first half marathon (at the U of I in April of '09) with my sister. After living to tell tales about this small success, I registered for the 2009 Chicago Marathon. The summer months were devoted to my running schedule. In the midst of long runs on the weekends (I followed Hal Higdon's novice plan and would highly recommend it to newby-marathon-runner-wanna-bes like myself!), I ran a number of other races that year. After my first marathon (ran in just a minute past the coveted 4 hour mark!), I was absolutely drained...physically and emotionally. It was an exhilarating experience, but I felt like I was in over my head in this "crazy runner world." I informed my friends, "I have NO IDEA how I will ever be able to do better at this than what I did today! Sure, I can imagine getting better at half marathons, but I really don't think I'll EVER be able to run a faster marathon!" Eleven and a half months later, I ran my 3rd marathon...approximately seven minutes faster than that first attempt, proving myself wrong. I love proving people wrong...especially myself.

Shortly thereafter, I began to venture cautiously into the world of triathlon...my first tri was the Kansas City Triathlon-sprint distance in 2011 (I would be remiss if I didn't mention the "indoor triathlon" I completed in St. Louis in February of 2010...pool swim, spin bikes, treadmill...nice). Following the Kansas City race, I informed my bestie Jillian who had encouraged me to complete it with her that triathlons just "aren't for me" and that I would be sticking with running. Following a six-month (or so) emotional break-up with my bike, something made me get back on "the horse." In May of 2012 I registered for a 70.3 (half-Iron!) in Branson (thanks to an e-mail from Active.com advertising half-off registration) and realized that doing so meant I needed to get "serious" with my training. From May-September 2012 I completed one sprint-distance, four Olympic-distance and two half-Iron distance triathlons....all basically on my own.

After completing the 70.3 in Branson I toyed with the idea of continuing the forward momentum I had in my training and simply moving forward with building my endurance and skills and doing a full 140.6 the following year. In October of 2012 I met my first coach, Laura Wheatley (at the finish line of Run the Woods, one of my favorite races!). I signed on with her, thus tasking her with the job of getting me to the finish line of Ironman Wisconsin in September of 2013.

I started building my base in December of 2012 and Laura gradually built up my training plan's intensity through the summer of 2013. There were MANY moments of self-doubt, but Laura never doubted me (at least not out loud ;)) once. Completing Ironman Wisconsin 2013 was one of the proudest moments of my entire life. Rachel Matyasse, you are an Ironman! Those are the kind of words you never forget.

What's next? Will there be another 140.6? Most definitely! When? Who knows!! But, until then, there are plenty more adventures to be had. On my short-list?
~Complete 50 marathons in 50 states by the time I am 50 (as of 12/15 I am 33 years old and have completed 12 marathons...and checked 7 states +DC off the list: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Virginia, New York, Wisconsin (if I am allowed to count IMWI, which some say I am :)), California, Washington DC.)
~Qualify for the Boston Marathon AGAIN (My current qualifying standard is 3:35. I qualified for the FIRST time in September of 2015 with a 3:33:16, but cannot run in 2016 because of...my son's pending arrival 4/29/16!). Did I mention I qualified at 7 weeks pregnant?

~Run a sub 20:00 5k (My current PR is 20:54, set 4.18.15!)
~Go sub 6 hours in a 70.3 (I was so CLOSE in my last 70.3 in the summer of 2013!)

~Continue to pursue the passion for running alongside my runner-husband
~Continue to encourage others to pursue running/triathlon/athletic endeavors and to grown in my own passion/skills...namely my son :)

~HAVE FUN

(Oh and in the midst of all of this...I would also really like to finish my doctorate :). I started working on my Ed.D. in Special Education in May of 2014 (I am a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist). Anticipated graduation is May of 2019...but we will see how the new-baby-situation affects that situation:))

So...bring on the training, and bring on the next adventures!! The best IS yet to come.

2010 Race Results

8) October 2, 2010: Run the Woods--25:46.1 (Trail 5k)

7) September 26, 2010: Quad Cities Marathon--3:53:51 PR!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6) July 24, 2010: BIX 7 Davenport Iowa--56:42
5) June 19, 2010: Warrior Dash (3.17 miles with 12 "extreme" obstacles)--28:34:.20
4) June 6, 2010: Minneapolis Marathon--4:04.07
3) May 1, 2010: U of I Half Marathon (Champaign, IL)--1:50.07
2) April 3, 2010: Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon (Springfield, IL)--1:49.57
1) February 13, 2010: JCC Indoor Triathlon (St. Louis, MI)--750 meter swim, 18 mi bike, 5 mi run

2009 Race Results

11) November 15, 2009: Jingle Bell Run (Blm, IL)--24:57:8
10) October 11, 2009: Chicago Marathon--4:01:04
9) October 3, 2009: Easter Seals Run the Woods (5k)--26:12
8) September 27, 2009: Quad Cities Half Marathon--1:52:09
7) July 25, 2009: Bix 7--58:36
6) July 4, 2009: Park 2 Park (5 mi)--43:12:1
5) June 20, 2009: Steamboat Classic (15k)--1:25:03
4) June 13, 2009: State Farm 5k--25:26
3) May 2, 2009: Lake Run (12k)-1:05:39
2) April 25, 2009: Race To Wrigley (5k)--27:32
1) April 11, 2009: Illinois Marathon (my 1st half marathon!!)--1:57:25

Running Mama-in-Training

Sunday, October 18, 2009

I DID IT!

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