Running Mama-in-Training: Quest for 3:40:59

Friday, March 12, 2010

Quest for 3:40:59

So I registered for marathon #2....Minneapolis...June 6, 2010...85 days from now. I am in week 6 of my 18-week training program (I am doing Hal Higdon's Novice plan again; the same thing I did last summer to prep for Chicago). So far, so good. I feel great and can't wait to run another marathon!

However...naturally I have a goal in mind ;). In order to qualify for the Boston Marathon, I need to get a qualifying time of 3 hours, 40 minutes, 59 seconds (or better!). My goal is to qualify for the 2011 Boston Marathon at the Chicago Marathon this fall. In order to (hopefully) better my chances of successfully qualifying, I thought I should get in one more marathon before Chicago this fall. Therefore...Minneapolis, here I come! I am going to be staying with my good friends, Rosalee and Bobby, who live in Bloomington, MN. I am super-excited to see them! :)

I may be crazy....not sure if 3 hours, 40 minutes, 59 seconds by October is a realistic goal...but I am going to try my darndest!! :) I ran last October in 4 hours, 1 minute, 4 seconds....which means I need to shave about 21 minutes off of my time. That's almost a whole minute/mile faster. Ugh. I think I can, I think I can! :)

Really, I want to accomplish the Boston Marathon before pregnancy :). We are absolutely not ready for a little Brunner any time soon...but that time will be here before we know it! I will be 28 in October and want to have my 1st baby before 30. In my mind (and we all know it isn't up to us!! ;)), running 2 marathons this year, qualifying for and running Boston in April 2011 (Monday the 18th!)...and then thinking about a little one! ;)

Again...there's a ton that has to happen for my little plan to really come to fruition ;)....but, hey, it's my blog and my life and my dreams....and that's what I've been thinking about for the past couple of months!!! :)

Bring on Minneapolis! :) :)

2 comments:

George said...: For anyone who calls themselves a distance runner, qualifying is the ultimate prize. Why? Because it is hard to do. Not many people make it, the percentages are against you. When you are young the qualifying times are fast, went you are old, well you’re old and the times still seem fast. However, it is a great historic race, full of tradition and pageantry and you’re there because you earned it.
Good luck, I did it in Chicago last year, what a feeling!; March 12, 2010 at 3:44 PM
Rachel Lynn said...: THANKS george!! :) :) not sure if I can really do it.....but I am definitely going to try!!!; March 13, 2010 at 6:47 PM

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

Friday, March 12, 2010

Quest for 3:40:59

2 comments:

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