Well that gal made her goal, ran everyday for a year (2010), and kept right on running into the next year until April 3 (that's 465 days of running!). Then she got sick and had to take 5 days off. That was hard.
During that year of running, she married the best guy she could have ever asked for, had a 5k on her wedding day, and visited Spain and Monaco with her new husband on their honeymoon. She even ran every day on her honeymoon (which was difficult, since she almost ran out of time on that really long day of travelling from Lynchburg to Charlotte to Frankfurt to Malaga by plane and then Malaga to Estepona by rental car...)
That year was a good year...that 2010.
In 2011, she kept running and ran her first marathon in Pittsburgh in May of 2011. That was really fun and hard and exciting and emotional and fulfilling...her parents came to watch and she felt like she really achieved something that day.
Then in the rest of 2011, the girl who used to be inconsistent at running, realized she had become pretty consistent and was running faster than ever before. She ran PRs at most of her races in the summer, enjoyed running in some local races on the track, and wore out a lot of shoes.
She ran and ran and sometimes didn't run as much. In the end of 2011 she was a little bored of running, so the fall was a little slower and had not as much running. That was okay. She was happy. She still had super duper husband who always supported her endeavors to hang out with and to love.
Because of the amazing opportunities from her running store job...running girl was in Austin, Texas in December of 2011 for a running trade show. She made friends with a runner dude from Alaska. He was a manager at the running store there (The Skinny Raven)...and he would prove to be a good friend to have made.
That 2011, it was a good year, too.
Then 2012 hit. Running girl was up for a new challenge...she wanted to run another marathon. But this time, she wanted to run faster. Runner dude from Alaska wrote up a plan and gave running girl a nice little Google calendar to sync with her phone. She signed up for the Pittsburgh Marathon again.
This time she would run the marathon to benefit Solemates: the charity program for Girls on the Run. She wanted to raise $500 to help more little girls have the opportunity to do the program. She raised $500 pretty easily. Then she raised $1000. Then she set her goal to $2000 and she passed that goal too. (If you want to see her get to $2500, donate here!)
She had a plan.In January, running girl started running more again. Then she started doing all kinds of new things she had never done before: tempo runs, hill repeats, intervals, track workouts, ice baths...it was a new kind of adventure and very challenging, but she liked it.
Running girl ran 20 miles in a snowstorm in Greensburg in February.
She swam 2 hours and biked for 1 hour to replace a long run when she was having Achilles problems.
She got a concussion while running on the track one day in April. The lacrosse players were taking down the nets that protect the track from the field. They are held up by big, heavy metal poles. A player had a pole in his hands and was walking toward the track. She was running around the back turn and the player hit her in the jaw with the end of the pole. He was a big dude. The pole was heavy. She was conked out for a few seconds...she went to the doc the next day when something didn't feel right. She was told maybe she shouldn't run the marathon. She had to take 5 days off work. Running girl was worried.
That was a big road block. Running girl had to take some time off running after the concussion. When she came back, she was having some headaches, but she felt better and better.
And then the time came where the marathon was only 5 days away.
Running girl was nervous...but she had lots of things to motivate her for a good day.
She had loving friends who inspired her.
She had an encouraging husband who knew she could do it.
She had super running reps who gave her fun running clothes to wear.
She had amazing people who donated to her campaign for Girls on the Run.
She had parents and family members who were going to come watch her.
She had a workplace that supported her and a boss who allowed her to leave for the weekend.
She had only 8 toenails.
She had a massage that week before the race.
She had a lot of water that week too.
She couldn't wait for the big day: Sunday, May 6th.
She was ready.
