End of July I got another high hamstring issue going on, along with a neck/upper back injury that sent me to the chiropractor for the first time. I was already signed up to do the Fenton Sprint Triathlon on August 3rd so I mustered on, icing and resting a lot in hopes of still finishing the race. We started our Festus Fun Runners group in July also, and had quite a turn out the first couple meetups. :)
August 3rd was the Fenton Sprint Triathlon. 300meter swim, 13.5 mile bike ride, 3.1 mile run. The race started out fine, got a FLAT TIRE on the bike and was going to DNF for the first time but an awesome young triathlete named Zack had gotten lost on the course and was so far behind he knew he wasn't going to finish well so he gave me his bike (that I didn't know how to shift because it was quite old) and he walked my bike back to transition! So I finished the bike on a borrowed bike and then hauled some ass on the run to try to make up for lost time. I ended up still getting 3rd in my age group and would have probably won my age group without the darn flat tire! My run split made up a lot of lost time, woohoo.
After the Fenton race I decided to take some time off and let my hamstring heal. We stayed a couple nights in St. Charles near the Katy Trail and rode our bikes a lot and I did a lot of cross training for the month of August in hopes of still running the half marathon at the end of September. Also in August my little man started Kindergarten, turned 6 years old! and my Caroline turned 2! I am so blessed.
In September I met my sweet Josee Hope from Australia through a Facebook page called "I run for Michael". Runners are paired up with buddies with special needs so that they can dedicate their training and racing to their buddy and raise awareness about these special needs. Josee has T21 or Down's Syndrome. She is the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen and has the most wonderful family. I asked if I could dedicate my 21K (half marathon) race to her and her mother agreed. We weren't officially matched because there is a sign up and waiting list but I wanted someone to race for so we did this unofficially. The BAJA race went beautifully. I got 1st in my age group and ran a 1:48:10 for my 2nd half marathon, killing my previous PR of 2:06! It was a beautiful sunny day and I got to run for my sweet girl.
In October I upped my miles a TON and decided to hit a new training plan guided by Arther Lydiard, an old time coach from New Zealand. I have a book of his that my super speedy brother let me borrow and based my training off of his plan. Basically, run a lot! I was mostly injury free through October and won my first 5k in Ste. Gen in a time of 22:46. It was a Halloween race, Jordan dressed as Forrest Gump, hilarious times were had. I ran 132 miles in October!
November was another month of heavy miles, but it brought about another hamstring injury and a sore calf after a race at the end of the month. I time trialed a 5K by myself in 21:45 one morning before work, and time trialed a half marathon by myself in 1:45:15 another day on my long run. :) The Great River Road Run was a 10 mile race. I finished in 1:15:11 or 7:29/pace for the 10.05 mile course. I was the 11th female finisher out of over 700+ people. But this was the race that would make my leg ache. I rounded out the month with 149 miles and a plan to rest in December to gear up for my 4 months of heavy training for my spring marathon.
December was a rest month, although I won another 5k at the beginning of the month. My time was slower than usual, because it was in the snow! Only 103 miles in December. We had a wonderful Christmas and lots of time with family. It was a good month to take a break.
January brought on horribly cold temps and lots and lots of snow to derail my training. I was shooting for 145-150 miles for the month and I almost made it. 136 miles ran, and injury free! I ran in 15 degree weather, snow and rain. It was a long month and I wasn't always super positive. Thankfully I have good support via social media and some friends were able to remind me why I was out there trudging through the weather to get in my training. I managed to run an impromptu time trial half marathon by myself in 1:39:45, for a 7:30ish paced run. I was quite proud and on a runner's high for the rest of the week!
February has been cold and snowy as well and has brought on lots of sickness in our house. I'm at 42.2 miles for the month, which is no where near where I need to be for my marathon training, but it will be okay. April 26th is race day in Champaign, Illinois and it can't come soon enough! Actually it's spring time that can't come soon enough, I'm over this winter!
Alright, update completed. I will try to post more often! Sheesh!
(if you read all of that, you rock!) :)
And a little motivation from the gals over at Distant Runners.
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