365 Days Later

At this time last year, I was waking up to get myself to the start line of the Kansas City Marathon/Half Marathon.  I had no clue what I had gotten myself into.  I had been running for just over 6 months, had dropped 30 pounds or so, and had never run more than 12 miles at any one time, yet here I was, iPod blaring, getting ready to attempt to run a Half Marathon for the first time.  Looking back at it now, I don't remember a whole lot about it.  It was sort of a blur, but I do remember being pretty thrilled with the fact that I was able to complete the run with minimal water stops, and that I was able to complete the thing in under 2 hours.  I also remember it seeming so preposterous that people willingly sign up to do such things with their free times.  Either way, I finished it, got my medal, and then spent the next week in more pain than I thought was possible, as the hills in Kansas City are quite taxing and just destroyed my legs.

That brings us to yesterday, 10/15/11.  One year later, I was back at the Crown Center in downtown Kansas City, ready to tackle the KC Half Marathon again.  This time, though, I was ready for the hills, and I was ready to run faster, and, most importantly, I was ready to just enjoy myself.  Running this race last year had me ready to ease into it, take advantage of the long downhill stretches, and save my energy tackling the long hills, especially the one by Liberty Memorial. 

Having run a few races over the past month or so, I had a feeling I could really push myself as far as I could go.  By the end of the 5th mile, I was under the pace I was hoping to hit, with several more flat spots and downhill descents to go.  At this point, I was doing everything I could to keep pushing the pace, because I knew that towards the end of the run, I would gradually start losing steam.  By the 11th mile, I was really fighting to keep my legs moving at a reasonable pace.  There were no more hills to climb, but I could tell I was running out of gas.  I finally decided to coast it through the last mile.  As we turned back onto Grand Avenue, I could see the finish line.  All I had to do was go through one more very tiny hill.  This very tiny hill caused my calves to seize up, as if they had been shocked with electricity!  Not good.  I really had to slow it up at this point just to make sure I finished.  By the time I crossed, I had set a new personal best, at 1:42:51.  I'm still a little bit stunned that I had something like that in me.  Now, only 80 days until Orlando.  That'll be here before I know it.  Thanks for reading, and until next time...later.

Fall Forward

I know, I know.  I haven't been writing.  But trust me, I've been really busy.  Actually, that isn't true at all.  I've had nothing but time to sit and write, but for some reason I was not really finding anything to write about.  It's been about two months since my last post, and nothing new has been going on, for the most part.  When I last left you, I was wrapping up a 10-K in Manhattan where I did pretty well. 

That race taught me a lot about keeping up my pace, running faster, and how to finish a race.  It feels like I've gone overboard with hitting up road races, and that's something I'm for sure going to scale back on next year, but for now, I've been working towards hitting my pace goals for the year, and I've only got one big one left.

Prior to deciding to start running, I never would have dreamed I would be able to set goals that got progressively harder, set up training schedules in order to help meet those goals, and then go out to a race with other competitors and beat those goals.  But I'm competitive, so I guess it shouldn't come as a total shock that I'm meeting the marks I set for myself.  I would imagine that anyone could meet any goal they set for themselves if they just practice patience and dedication.  I never believed that I would feel weird if I only ran four days a week instead of five, but that's what's happening!  All it took was for me to keep wanting to challenge myself until I hit my goals.

After that race in Manhattan, I trekked up to KC to run in the North Face Endurance Challenge, where I was participating in another 10K.  The highlight of the weekend was setting a PR, for sure, but also having a chance to meet recent TFGIR interviewee Michael Wardian.  He dominated the competition here in the Midwest, winning both the 50K race and the Half Marathon.  He was very laid back and easy to talk to, so that was pretty cool.  He made sure to take photos with anyone that wanted, and even though a hurricane (Irene) was blowing through his state, he made sure to spend a minute with everyone that wanted to chat.  So that was neat.

Getting ready for the KC Half on October 15th has been a challenge.  With my work schedule being all new, finding time for runs has been interesting, to say the least.  Nothing like getting right off work and running 10 miles, or heading home for some sleep, waking up, and going out and running 12 miles.  Luckily, the parks have been very nice around Topeka this summer/fall.  The only time goal I have left to meet is to hit a Half Marathon in 1:50:00.  I even signed up for another Half in November just in case I miss my time in KC, although I'm feeling pretty good about hitting that mark.  Disney is right around the corner, as it will be only 94 days away when you read this.  Yikes.  Until next time...later.