Great Goblin Gallop 5K 2016

Flashback to October 22, 2011. It was my first 5K! I ran it in 39 minutes and I thought it was the hardest thing ever!
Fast forward 5 years later. I ran the exact same 5K on the exact same date: October 22, 2016. I ran the whole thing, and I completed it 11 minutes faster than 5 years prior (read about the other years we did this race too: 2012 and 2013). I had a great race this past weekend, and I finished in about 28:23 (according to my Garmin.... still waiting for official results). What made it even better is that almost our entire Sunday morning running group (the "Breakfast Club") showed up to race!!!! It was so much fun spending time with the Breakfast Club and supporting a local race. Unfortunately, Mr. Marathon was working that morning and couldn't be there, but the Breakfast Club (and Mr. Marathon's entire family!) showed up to race. Oh, and I placed 1st in my age group, so that was pretty groovy too!

The Breakfast Club!!!!

I started reflecting after this year's Goblin Gallop. Five years ago, it took everything I had to do 3 miles. Three miles was my long run. My weekly training was something like 2 runs a week of 2 miles or less, and I was averaging 13 minute miles, even pushing my hardest. Fast forward to present day- I am running 20-40 miles a week currently, training for the Marshall University (full!) Marathon, and my training paces are averaging around 9-10 minutes per mile for most runs. Now, this may not sound impressive to many of you, but looking back I am so proud. 5 years later, and I haven't quit. Doing something for 5 whole years without giving up, just taking some breaks and suffering from some injuries and burnout. Staying committed for 5 years to something as physically and mentally demanding as running has been quite a challenge.

So I encourage you to take a moment to reflect. How long have you been running? Has it ever seemed impossible? Do you ever take a moment to appreciate how far you've come (or gone)? Be proud of yourself. Running is hard-- believing in yourself doesn't have to be.

High fiving! 1st and 2nd place in the 25-29 age group!

1st, 2nd, and 3rd place 25-29 age group

Me with part of Mr. Marathon's family....
What a good-looking bunch!

Oh, and we are 11 days from the MARSHALL UNIVERSITY MARATHON!!!! EEEEK!

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!

Since the 4th of July, we have been running amok! We have finished out the summer running strong, and we just cannot WAIT until the fall weather officially kicks in, which should be soon! We have been a little busy with running and non-running related events, so what's been going on since the 4th of July in our running lives, you ask?

Harvest Moon 10K
Mr. Marathon decided to run the Harvest Moon 10K back in September. He had a good run and managed to finish 2nd place overall in 39:16 with a surprise PR of 20 seconds from this same race 3 years ago!

He sure knows to add pizzazz to his finish!

Averett Cross Country
Mr. Marathon has also started his 2nd season with Averett University's Cross Country team. He has had 2 meets so far, and he managed to squeak out a PR for the 8K at his meet this past weekend! He finished in 29:57-- a PR by 39 seconds!!! Wowie! He has a couple more meets left in the season so we will see how they go.

100 Miles a Month
I'm not even sure if I've talked about this here on the blog, but I had a goal set to do 100 miles a month each month in 2016. So far, I have successfully gotten my 100+ miles each month! Now I just have to keep on rolling through October, November, and December!

Marathon Training
Oh, and we have decided on a fall marathon to tackle! We will be heading to West Virginia for the Marshall University Marathon on November 6th! We are looking forward to it. We are 5 weeks out and in full swing with training. I have already gone up to a 20 miler this cycle and have 2 more 20 milers planned... gulp! Things are on track for us to rock out the MUM! Can't wait!

Our first 20 miler of this cycle last month...
Can't wait until the next one...???