My Story

-My Running Story-

In August of 2011, my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Two days later I decided to sign up for the Tidewater Virginia Race for the Cure. At that point I was feeling pretty helpless about the whole situation and it was something I could personally do to help my Mom. I had never been a runner growing up and had just started to attempt jogging at the park earlier that summer. I did very little training but showed up that morning and was able to complete the 5K in 39:59 and raised over $800 by myself for Susan G. Komen. At that point I realized just how much fun a race could be!

Race for the Cure 2011

Following Race for the Cure I decided running was something that I wanted to try. For one thing, I knew I wanted to get healthy. Second, it's a lot cheaper than therapy! Honestly, I didn't really even know where to start, so I basically just started telling everyone I knew that I wanted to run. I started jogging at the park and searching Google for tips. At the end of November I finally found a running partner and it changed everything!

Getting a running partner is the best thing I have done for my running. I can rationalize pretty much anything and talk myself out of going running. Having a person waiting for you at the park that you know will show up at your front door if you decide to be a lazy bum is a very good motivator (which he totally did, by the way...)! Unfortunately, I was living in Virginia and in February I got pneumonia....but totally did the Polar Plunge 5K anyway!!

Polar Plunge 2012

After almost a month of trying to get over the pneumonia, I decided I wanted to attempt an 8K. The Shamrock Weekend in Virginia Beach is huge! They have a One Mile Race and an 8K on Saturday and a Half Marathon and Marathon on Sunday. The 8K and the Half Marathon both sell out at 10,000 people (and pretty much always sell out...). With only a month to train I was nervous, but just plain decided to go for it. I was able to finish the race and even felt good enough to drink some free beer after :)

Yuengling Shamrock 8K

In June I took a job offer and moved to Southwest Florida. I honestly had no idea how much that would kill the progress I had made! I literally had to start back at day one of running. I decided my next step would be a 10K. I signed up for the Wicked 10K in Virginia Beach and decided I needed to do a training program for this one. After a lot of research online, I decided to go with Hal Higdon's 10K Training Program and I was not disappointed  The program was really helpful! I was able to finish the 10K with a really good pace (for me) especially considering there was a hurricane sitting off of the coast of Virginia!

Blue Moon Wicked 10K Costume Race

Once I finished the 10K I knew the next step was a Half Marathon (which is no easy task). I again went to Hal Higdon, deciding to do his Novice 2 Training Program since I had already been doing quite a bit of running. So far, I have hit the 10 mile mark and again I'm really happy with the program. I was able to do 10 miles at the same pace that I was doing 3 mile runs just 8 weeks ago. 

With this blog, I hope to inspire beginning runners. I have 47 days until my very first Half Marathon and I could not be more excited. I would love to inspire just one person with this blog to gather up the courage to just get out there and do your first race! Stay tuned :)