Playing Catch Up...

The weather here has finally turned warmer, which means lunchtime runs and racing season are back in full effect! But let me back up a bit....

First race of 2014 was the Bockfest 5k. The course itself didn't take us through very scenic parts of town, but it was a popular race to coincide with the weekend's festivities. Considering I didn't run a whole heck of a lot during the winter months this race wasn't too bad. The free beer and cheese coneys at the finish weren't too bad either ;)

 

Second race of 2014 was the Soaring Eagle 5k; a small race with maybe 50 total participants. The course wound through the local Boy Scout campground and due to all the rain was a muddy mess.

Within the first mile of the race, I was the first female with the second female close behind. I knew I needed to keep up a good pace in order to finish first female, and I was able to do that for 3 miles....ugh. In the last .1 of the race she (the 14 year old who beat me) turned it on and I just didn't have anything left. Ended up finishing 2 seconds behind her for second overall female and first in my age group.

 

 

 

Obviously I'm frustrated with my race. I could have run harder and faster and held on for the last few seconds. Hopefully this will serve as the motivator I need to get my butt in gear! 

 

 

 

Happy New Year

Holy 2014! How is it already January, and how have I been MIA for almost 2 months....

      Let's do a quick recap of what's been happening:

• Ran a 10k on Thanksgiving morning

 

• Was supposed to run this race...

 

...until we got snowed in!

 

• Got selected for this

 

 

• Celebrated Christmas with the family

 



• Organized my race medals

So that was 2013! Nothing planned yet for 2014 - I have been feeling under the weather for the last week, so needless to say 2014 hasn't started out quite like I hoped it would.

I hope you and yours had a nice Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

 

Fighting Hunger 5k

      This past Saturday the husband and I, along with a few of my co-workers, participated in the Fighting Hunger 5k sponsored by Matthew 25 Ministries. We registered as a team, with the team name "Running on Empty" - pretty clever, right? The event itself had over 3,000 participants and was cheap well priced for all the goodies we received (i.e. more food than I have ever seen at a race).

     
      With so many people it was difficult to find a good pace and a good stretch of running room. I wasn't as physically prepared as I would have liked, not to mention the fact that I was dressed for 0 degree weather (which it was not). Overall, not my best race both physically and mentally, but it was still a great morning benefiting a great cause!

Mile 1 - 9:47
Mile 2 - 9:48
Mile 3 - 9:31

 

 

Official Time - 30:19



 



 

Run for the Troops 5k

This past Saturday, the husband and I participated in the Run for the Troops 5k to benefit the Yellow Ribbon Foundation. We signed up for the race sort of on a whim - we hadn't run in about 2 weeks since the Columbus Half but B had to have the camo race shirt!

Going into the race I didn't have any expectations. I wanted to break 30 minutes, but I wasn't very confident of that happening. The gun went off and all 84 of us started....

Mile 1 - 9:19
Mile 2 - 9:22
Mile 3 - 9:53

The pace started to feel really uncomfortable late in mile 2, but by then I knew that I could potentially break my 30 minute target. We slowed down in mile 3 and ended up being passed by some "stroller" traffic. I picked up the pace once the finish line was in sight, and ended up passing a few people to ensure a sub-30 minute time.

Official Time - 29:39

Not only did I earn a shiny new PR, but I came in 1st in my age group (out of 3, but it still counts, right?!)! Obviously I'm happy with my performance! Imagine how much better it could have gone with a little bit of training.....

Why do you Run?

I don't have much time to write today (only a few days in and already I'm slacking!), so I thought I would share this link instead. For anyone who has ever completed a race, no mater the distance, I'm sure you can relate to some of these!

The 37 happiest things you see while running a marathon

I.Love.Running.

      Hello and Welcome to Motivated by Miles! Thanks for bearing with me as I start this blogging adventure...

      I think the obvious first question is, "Why did I start a blog?" Well, as the title says, I Love Running! Now I don't consider myself exceptionally good at it and what I mean by that is that I'm not particularly speedy. But the camaraderie of the sport and the competition (with myself) keeps me logging those miles. Although my intention is for this blog to focus on running, I am fairly certain it will morph into a hodgepodge of topics at some point. And for that I offer no apologies :)

       So I guess you are probably wondering (or maybe not!) how my running journey began. I always wanted to be a runner and tried to become one in college, with no success. In 2008, with my wedding only months away and money tight, I decided it was time for a part-time job in addition to my full-time job. I applied at a local running store, having never run a race in my life, and was miraculously offered a job! That began my introduction into the running world! And what an introduction it was - from free shoes and clothes - I was the best uniformed "runner" to have never run a race! From that point forward, it was 5k races, then 10k races, and eventually half marathons. Today, I have run countless 5k and 10k races, and five half marathons. My sights are set on a full marathon someday. The NYC Marathon this morning may have me delusionally thinking it is a good idea to sign up for one soon...(and yes I sat on my couch this morning and watched all 3.5 hours of marathon coverage!)

      That is all I have for today. I will be back soon with a race recap of my recent 5k PR race.