thing 1: I AM AN IRONMAN!
Ford Ironman Florida. 1st November 2008.
one of the ABSOLUTE coolest, craziest, most amazing things I have EVER done. the day started with a gorgeous 2.4 mile swim in the gulf of mexico (1:14:06), continued with a longggggg 112 mile bike in (boring) panama city (6:27:18) and finished with 26.2 (4:26:34). grand total: 12:25:21. I crossed the finish line and couldn't stop saying, "I did it!" such a cool feeling.
thing 2: my first win
asbury park half marathon. 18th April 2009.
a small race on the coast of jersey. I had a feeling that might have a shot at the win (and perhaps a PR), but I hadn't "won" anything since high school, so it was hard to grasp. nevertheless, breaking the tape was pretty freaking fun. no PR, but it definitely gave me a good high and confidence going into jersey two weeks later.
thing 3: mega marathon PR
New Jersey marathon. 3rd May 2009. Marathon #17.
after spending several years focused on training others with TNT, I finally buckled down and ran like I knew I could, running nearly an eight minute PR. final time: 3:14:24 and 4th woman overall. yeah, that felt good.
thing 4: completing two half IMs while completing my thesis
no mincing words: I WAS NOT TRAINED FOR EITHER. yet I did 'em because...my teammates were counting on me and in a way, I needed something beyond work and school to keep me going...it was a tough summer. I rolled into the finish of RI in 5:51:33 and Timberman in 5:49:00...and breathed a sigh of relief.
Rhode Island 70.3, 12th July 2009 and Timberman 70.3, 23rd August 2009
no mincing words: I WAS NOT TRAINED FOR EITHER. yet I did 'em because...my teammates were counting on me and in a way, I needed something beyond work and school to keep me going...it was a tough summer. I rolled into the finish of RI in 5:51:33 and Timberman in 5:49:00...and breathed a sigh of relief.
thing 5: completing my MA degree
anyone that has been close to me in the last three years knows how very hard I worked to earn this degree...PART-TIME. while training for marathons. and mentoring new runners. and fundraising for blood cancers. and working full-time. and going through a terrible break-up. and completing AN IRONMAN!!! yes, finishing my MA is truly one of my proudest accomplishments...and MOST expensive endeavors (the loan statements have already started to roll in...). but who cares. I did it...and I'm SO much stronger for it.
anyone that has been close to me in the last three years knows how very hard I worked to earn this degree...PART-TIME. while training for marathons. and mentoring new runners. and fundraising for blood cancers. and working full-time. and going through a terrible break-up. and completing AN IRONMAN!!! yes, finishing my MA is truly one of my proudest accomplishments...and MOST expensive endeavors (the loan statements have already started to roll in...). but who cares. I did it...and I'm SO much stronger for it.
thing 6: running my first ultra
knickerbocker 60k. 21st November 2009.
knickerbocker 60k. 21st November 2009.
my training for this consisted of whatever I wanted, truly...and that was: 1. helping my bf train for NYC by doing a bunch of half marathons & long runs at his race pace. // 2. running the Nike Women's Marathon in October (3:42) then taking on an extra 5 miles to make it a 31 mile day. // 3. pacing my bf in NYC to a sub 3:30 marathon. // 4. completing a 20-miler five days later. // 5. tapering.
how it felt: long. how it went: fine, except for those last three laps...KILLER! how I finished: 5:38:43, good enough for 10th woman. while the competitive devil in me stared at the results wondering why I didn't run faster, the new "easy-on-yourself" me patted myself on the back. I'm an ultramarathoner now!
how it felt: long. how it went: fine, except for those last three laps...KILLER! how I finished: 5:38:43, good enough for 10th woman. while the competitive devil in me stared at the results wondering why I didn't run faster, the new "easy-on-yourself" me patted myself on the back. I'm an ultramarathoner now!
so there you have it...a glimpse at my last 18 months...and I mean a glimpse (blood, sweat and tears not included here...I'll save that for future posts!). more to come...promise. :)
7 comments:
Found your blog via twitter. You are bionic. That's it. From now on, I will refer to you as The Bionic Woman. :-)
Congratulations on all of your accomplishments! Very impressive!
Talent, speedy and full of endurance... not to mention big-hearted and intelligent. Lucky us that you are sharing yourself again through your blog. High five on your six things, sister.
Congrats - they are all very significant! I can connect with the first one. While no ironman, I did my first Olympic Tri this summer, and there is just something about putting the 3 events together that just creates the most amazing sense of accomplishment.
Good luck in 2010!
wow, you make me look like a slacker.
nice work this year!
Mark
congrats on the 60K. I ran it as well and i hear you, the last 3 laps were killer. i was confused at one point and thought i had one to go, finding out at the finish i still had one more! what a beautiful day for a run though. Oh- and awesome job on the IM!
So awesome!! You rock, girl. What a year it has been for you :-D
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