Running to me has a great deal of ups and downs. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes not so much. One thing for sure I am always trying to improve on it. It kinda sounds like my life! Since coming back from my "no expectation vacation" in October I have been quite the busy girl. I had decided to take a bible study class to enhance my knowledge of Christianity in which I really enjoyed and met some pretty cool people along the way. I liked the weekly meetings and the going to church on Sunday routine. I was kinda sad when it ended. Nothing forces me to go to church, it is just willpower at this point. And I have to admit the flying schedule has not been real conducive, and I am sure I can come up with a couple other excuses as to why I have not attended regularly. Goal this weekend...make it to church....note to self!
I have trained and completed my first half marathon.WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! For anyone that knows me, especially my soccer buddies from college, know that I HATE...HATE...HATE running! Playing soccer is a different story. I love chasing the ball, but all that pre-season run bull crap I HATED and quite frankly I was horrible at it. Maybe that is why I was a defender?I slow the fast people down! So the idea of running a half-marathon has never crossed my mind, that was until my friend Shari said that she and her daughter Michel were running the Disney Princess Half-Marathon. She told me that I should and that it was going to be a lot of fun. 13.1 miles fun???? The only thing in common with fun and run is that fact that they rhyme. That is it! Somehow I talked my friend Renee (whom I fly with) into the idea of running as well. I told her it was going to be "FUN" and it would give us a goal to work out on our layovers. Our training plan??? After Thanksgiving we said "We have to get serious now!", after Christmas "No really, We have to get serious!" and than after New Years we said" Oh Sh** we have less than two months we for REAL have to get serious!!" We were given all kinds of suggestions for training but we did what worked for us. I have to give us credit, for training we ran in the rain in DC, the snow in MI, even on an 80 degree day we decided to run our longest training run of 10miles past the Donald Trumps MANSION in West Palm Beach. We sometimes ran 2 miles, sometimes five, sometimes for 40 minutes, sometimes less. Depending on the day and how we felt. I came down with a severe sinus infection at the end of January the first part of February. I was down for the count for almost 10 days, no training, barely eating, and feeling like crud. I was sure that I would never finish the race. Our only goal was to not walk, which after my sickness seemed like a hell of a goal. But race day finally approached
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| My shirt that I made for the race in honor of new beginnings and tribute to a dear friend of mine that died in 2004 |
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| Renee making her shirt! |
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| In Honor of DAD and Joe |
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| 300am bus ride to the race! Tiara's and all! |
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| At mile 6 near the castle! |
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| Mile 10! 3 to go!! |
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| Getting ready to cross the finish line!! |
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| Getting my Princess Medal at the Finish Line |
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| Renee Getting her Medal |
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| Katie is D.O.N.E!!!! |
From:
EAST POINT, GA
Age:
29
Gender:
Female
Bib:
#12550
Distance:
13.1 miles
Clock Time:
3:16:38
Net Time:
2:47:57
Overall Place:
7184 / 13797
Gender Place:
6794 / 13114
Division Place:
1361 / 2371
5K Split:
35:20
10K Split:
1:20:36
15K Split:
1:57:42
My official results from the Disney website!! Yes I finished and I achieved my goal of not walking. Besides the 10 minute restroom break and the short stops for pictures, we ran the whole time! The whole 2hours 47 minutes and please do not forget the 57seconds. I do not know what possessed me to run a half marathon but I did learn a couple of things.
#1 I do not get runners high, I get runners HATE!
#2 Running is a little more enjoyable when you don't have your college soccer coach yelling "Katie you better take 30 seconds off your time or the whole team is running again" Thanks Greg! and please emphasize the "Little more enjoyable part"
#3 Bathrooms are a hot item while running...just say'n
#4 You chaf in places that you didn't know was possible
#5 There really is no feeling as good as when you cross the finish line
So you see running is alot like life. It has it ups and downs. For example, as I write this blog I just scarfed down 3 Samoas Girl Scout cookies in less than a minute flat. All in the name of supporting our Girl Scouts ( I was once a top seller you know) All kidding aside: LIFE NEEDS BALANCE. Running has reminded me that goals are possible to achieve, some days are good running days, some days are bad running days. When my pace was not what I wanted or days when I wanted to quit, I kept reminding myself of the many people, I could run in honor of. That helped put things in perspective. In life you have to take the good with the bad, as in running, constantly strive for improvement. I guess the real reason I ran the Princess half marathon......I finally got to wear my tiara!!! Til Next time Peace and Love ~KT~
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