#half marathon
Tumblr it’s been awhile. The last few weeks have been buuuuusssyy. But this smile is the smile of a girl who just crossed the finish line of her third half marathon in 27.5 hours. This was my first dabble in back to back endurance events and it was brilliant! It hurt, a lot, but I spent the weekend surrounded by the most wonderful people and learned just how strong I can be ❤️
Last race of 2018 for me and I definitely saved the best views until last. 9am start with the most beautiful course. A killer of a hill in the middle and an upset tummy and the pukes didn’t make it the most pleasant race experience but I’m so glad to have done it, and finished it
2018 has been my first year running, in that year I’ve done a 10km, 2 10 milers, 3 half marathons, a 30km and a marathon. I’m looking forward to gently finishing this year out before looking ahead to what 2019 will bring ❤️ happy running everyone ❤️
Saturday is the final race day of the year for me. I’ll be travelling down tomorrow to break up the journey. This race was supposed to be my first half marathon last year however at the time I was too sick to travel never mind run.
I’ve come a long way in that 12 months, but I also have a long way to go. I’ll be travelling solo without the support of my husband or my race wife and it will be my first race without having one of them by my side. It’s something I find daunting, I’ll have no one to calm my nerves, tell me it’s all going to be ok and laugh with me at finish line when the nausea kicks in. For many people this wouldn’t matter, but for me it does. We all have our difficulties to overcome, and what might seem silly to one person is major to someone else.
Good luck to anyone racing this weekend, or just running in general-go get those miles
This morning I ran my 13th half marathon! My GOLDEN half marathon! It was super local which was nice. It was warm/hot and cloudy the whole run. Sarah and I ran together for 3 miles then split. I felt pretty great the whole run :) I ate a gu at 45 minutes and a maple syrup packet at 1:30. I have a race every weekend for the next 5 weeks
Dunzo.
With our 1st year of college behind us, I think it’s safe to say we both left our comfort zones and tried something new.
For me, a girl who hadn’t been in athletics since my freshman year of high school, I became a Division 1 athlete. In high school I had reached that point in my life where I just said I was done with sports. Growing up I was always involved with sports, so to my parents this came as a shock. I always had that feeling like something was missing from my life though. When I got to college there was a meeting for the rowing team - no strings attached and more importantly, no experience necessary. If you wanted to get involved and try it, that was great, but you could also decide it wasn’t for you. After the meeting, I definitely had a feeling it was something I needed to try. After my very first practice on the water, I was hooked. That’s the thing about rowing - it just gets you. Obviously it’s not for everyone - 4 am alarms, 5:30 am rows in 30 degree weather (rain or shine…well more like blackness as the sun has yet to come up), a body that is constantly in pain no matter how many stretches you do to try to relieve it, lactic acid buildup in your muscles (particuarly your legs) from pushing your muscles to near failure, no social life, every hour of my day is schedule, and in case morning practices weren’t enough there are always those infamous 2-a-days - yeah, this is what I have come to willingly put myself through.
I would definitely say I learned a lot about myself via rowing. Never in my life did I ever think I could do this. Rowing is just as mental as it is physical. You have to be trained to learn that your mind will tell you to stop, but your body will keep going, you just have to push through the hell. Yeah it sucks when my entire body is in an extreme amount of pain, but it feels awesome after when you’re on your rowing high (and when you get to eat a bajillion calories a day because rowing is one of the highest calorie-burning sports. It’s just my excuse to eat all the time and only get semi-judged for it.)
As for Audrey, she auditioned and performed in a play - something she said she would do in high school but never got time for. And she also ran a half marathon…in freaking Disney World with the characters along the sides cheering the runners on. Lucky bitch. But I can’t speak too much for her because we go to different schools so lord only knows if she tried anything else new (oh and she brought her best friend some cuppy cakes to one of her races near Audrey’s school hehe yeah she’s my favorite person :p )
~Marissa
Corset Athlete Update, Part 1: Running
So I created this little side blog to give me a space to yap about my recreational/athletic goals, plans, and adventures. But I haven’t really used it all that much, have I? I’ve hit a number of milestones and signed up for a few events in the past several months that are worth mentioning, but I never got so far as typing out anything about them! You’ll see a few “Corset Athlete Update” posts coming out here in the next few days, so consider these a “catch-up” on what I’ve been up to lately. As always, I love questions, so feel free to shoot me a message if you have any at all!
Running
For Christmas, my husband got me one gift. One and only one gift: registration for a race series. Four 5K races and 1 half marathon. So, does that make it five gifts? A lot more if you count all the excess swag that comes with any race these days…
It was exactly what I wanted! It was also what I asked for. The winter months are so difficult to keep up a running habit during, especially for someone like me who considers treadmill running a taste of hell. I figured that having some races peppered throughout this part of the year would be helpful in keeping me motivated. At the very least, I had to show up to the races to get my “free” post-race bagel (even if I just fed it to my dear partner).
At the beginning of it all, I set the goal of completing one of the 5Ks in less than 25 minutes. Even as a cross country runner in high school, I hadn’t dipped below that time. No such luck, but I still was pretty happy with my times.
12/7/14 (perfect weather): 26:04
1/18/15 (bad pre-race fueling): 26:32
2/1/15 (icy course): 28:58
2/8/15 (good weather, high winds): 26:05
So far, I’m actually sitting pretty at 10th place for women in the entire race series out of over 800 gals (and 26th out of 1300+ overall), though that’s mostly due to the fact that I’ve simply participated in all of the races.
The final race, a half marathon, is coming up this Sunday (yep, three days from now). And I’m not as well-trained for it as I would like to say I am. There’s no doubt I’ll get through it without slowing to a walk, but I doubt it will be a PR. The weather looks to be of little help in this matter. We are set to receive another 10-ish inches of snow between now and race day, with the temperature never rising above freezing. At a certain point, the goal mainly becomes to not slip and hurt myself!
I suppose I should wrap this up by saying “wish me luck” or something to that effect. After all, it can’t hurt. :)
Photos
Top: Pre-race 12/17/14
Bottom: Post-race 2/1/15
I suppose I could follow this up by adding that my half marathon went rather well! For having lagged in my training and decided that I wasn’t concerned about my time, I did okay. I’m not impressing anyone with a 2:03 finish time, but the fact that I was able to smile the entire time, and even do it on an empty stomach (yep, I got mixed up on the start time and had to get there in a hurry, thus skipping breakfast) was enough to satisfy me. Besides, when running stops being fun, I’ll stop doing it And I’d prefer not to hit that point!
Next goal: complete the full Pikes Peak Marathon in less than 8 hours. Doable, but a real challenge. I know that sounds like a slow time for a marathon, but this one also involves climbing a mount - that is, you gain and then lose a mile and half in elevation alone. Expect to hear more about that over the course of summer.
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Corset Athlete Update, Part 1: Running
So I created this little side blog to give me a space to yap about my recreational/athletic goals, plans, and adventures. But I haven’t really used it all that much, have I? I’ve hit a number of milestones and signed up for a few events in the past several months that are worth mentioning, but I never got so far as typing out anything about them! You’ll see a few “Corset Athlete Update” posts coming out here in the next few days, so consider these a “catch-up” on what I’ve been up to lately. As always, I love questions, so feel free to shoot me a message if you have any at all!
Running
For Christmas, my husband got me one gift. One and only one gift: registration for a race series. Four 5K races and 1 half marathon. So, does that make it five gifts? A lot more if you count all the excess swag that comes with any race these days…
It was exactly what I wanted! It was also what I asked for. The winter months are so difficult to keep up a running habit during, especially for someone like me who considers treadmill running a taste of hell. I figured that having some races peppered throughout this part of the year would be helpful in keeping me motivated. At the very least, I had to show up to the races to get my “free” post-race bagel (even if I just fed it to my dear partner).
At the beginning of it all, I set the goal of completing one of the 5Ks in less than 25 minutes. Even as a cross country runner in high school, I hadn’t dipped below that time. No such luck, but I still was pretty happy with my times.
12/7/14 (perfect weather): 26:04
1/18/15 (bad pre-race fueling): 26:32
2/1/15 (icy course): 28:58
2/8/15 (good weather, high winds): 26:05
So far, I’m actually sitting pretty at 10th place for women in the entire race series out of over 800 gals (and 26th out of 1300+ overall), though that’s mostly due to the fact that I’ve simply participated in all of the races.
The final race, a half marathon, is coming up this Sunday (yep, three days from now). And I’m not as well-trained for it as I would like to say I am. There’s no doubt I’ll get through it without slowing to a walk, but I doubt it will be a PR. The weather looks to be of little help in this matter. We are set to receive another 10-ish inches of snow between now and race day, with the temperature never rising above freezing. At a certain point, the goal mainly becomes to not slip and hurt myself!
I suppose I should wrap this up by saying “wish me luck” or something to that effect. After all, it can’t hurt. :)
Photos
Top: Pre-race 12/17/14
Bottom: Post-race 2/1/15
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Running toward Austin and the apartment after last week’s Sunday run. I inadvertently waited until it started snowing to get going but it felt good to be out there. That was the end of week 2.
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Adding a new set of accomplishments to my bucket list: running in all 8 of the races that make up the National Park Half Marathon Series! The greatest thing of all is that they are all out west other than the Great Smoky Mountain run. Here’s to hoping I can get one done this year!
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SOOOOO
I am thinking about becoming certified as a running coach?
I have been thinking about this for around 2 years now but I have been so on the fence! I really want to help other people become good runners and I want to create plans for people and I want to coach! I also have a TON of experience running!
The thing is though… I am not a consistent runner. I am very overweight and I feel like it would be ridiculous if I was a coach. I don’t think people would take me seriously or want to be coached by me because if I can’t even coach myself, how can they expect good results?
Even if I can’t follow a plan well, I know that there are a ton of people that can! I feel like I have a lot of fun knowledge and I could really help people.
What do you guys think?
