So, to catch you up on the last seven months of my crazy running adventures, I'll give you the short and sweet version, and then promise to do better going forward!
In January I ran the PF Chang's Rock N Roll Half Marathon with my sister, Elyse - her FIRST half marathon, and it was a blast! I am so glad that I got to share that experience with her! Now to get her to do another...
February included my Ragnar Del Sol Relay adventure and my first full marathon! Let me tell you - running 200+ miles with 11 friends is a total blast! I'd never done a relay event before, and I was nervous about how it would all work out, the lack of sleep, showers, proper fueling, etc. But it was so much fun and I would definitely do it again if asked! If you've never done Ragnar or a similar type event, give it a shot!
My first full marathon was the Phoenix Marathon, and I think it's best that I'm writing about it months later. You may already notice that I'm referring to it as my first, which means there's a second... but more on that later. The Phoenix Marathon touts itself as fast, downhill and perfect for a PR - well, of course it would be my PR, it's my first. But I think I should have studied the elevation map a little closer - there's a nice "little" uphill section right around mile 4 that I wasn't mentally prepared for! But all in all, it was a success. I finished. I swore I'd never do it again. And then I signed up for another...
In March I took it pretty easy and only ran a couple of local 5Ks. But when I also signed up for three back to back half marathons in April and the TCS New York City Marathon in November (see, I told you I was running another full), I decided to hire a running coach! He might not have been very happy about my April schedule :)
So, in April I did Pat's Run (honoring Pat Tillman) and three half marathons three weekends in a row. I know, it seems a little crazy. But they were all runs that I hadn't done before, and doing all three meant I could "moon up" in the Half Fanatics group! Win, win! So, I did all three, and thanked God when they were over - holy smokes that's grueling! I really hadn't prepared enough for that kind of mileage!
In May I took another break and only did one local 5K and backed down my mileage to start over and really build my base back up the right way. My coach was sure glad to have that craziness behind us, and to be able to focus on the couple of half marathons I had coming up, and to start properly preparing for New York!
In June I travelled to England for vacation and was able to work in a trip to Liverpool to run the Rock N Roll Liverpool Half Marathon! I was SO excited to get to run at an event overseas and for it to be a Rock N Roll event so I'd earn more bling - you know sometimes it is about the bling! Running in London, Edinburgh and Liverpool was amazing, and the Rock N Roll event was awesome! Liverpool is so beautiful and I am a big Beatles fan, so that made it even more fun! Yes, we ran on Abbey Road!
That brings us to July, and this month I tried something new! My hubby, Jon, and I did our very first trail race! Make that our very first trail run that was also a race!! It was really fun, and challenging and I can see that we'll be taking on that challenge more after we're done training for our upcoming full marathons! I won first in my age group and Jon was third male finisher overall! A great success! We also ran a half marathon in Ventura, CA to kick off our vacation again this year. It was beautiful, but warm! I almost beat my PR from last December, but the heat beat me, and I missed it by just over a minute.
I'll leave you with a few pictures from the first half of this year and promise to catch you up on my upcoming adventures soon!
~ Courtney
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| Rock N Roll Liverpool 1/2 |
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| Phoenix Marathon |
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| Scottsdale Challenge 1/2 |
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| Nick's Epic Battle Trail Run |
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| Ice Cream Run 5K |
