Good morning Bookworms! I recently launched my Angie Runs service where I can create a personalized training schedule for you based on your running goals. But today I’m going to talk about my own running goals.
The first time I ran a marathon, I was 24 and not prepared. My dad, a marathon legend, invited me to run a marathon with him, the Air Force Marathon in Dayton, Ohio. The race was in September 2011. I had run many half marathons by then but never tackled the marathon beast. I agreed to go with him and my mom and a bunch of their running friends. I started halfheartedly training, I wasn’t eating well and I missed a lot of my scheduled runs. I ran one 30k long run before race day. This wasn’t going to go well. On race day the atmosphere was intense. I lined up at the start line with my parents and a few of their friends but lost them all very quickly as they pulled ahead. I had always been a slow and steady runner anyways so I didn’t worry about it. Plus I knew my dad was way faster than me so no big deal. My mom was doing the half marathon that day as well. I was doing great until the 30k mark. Then I started walking a lot, the last 10km of that race were some of the toughest mental and physical kilometers I’ve ever done. My legs were dragging and all I could think about was the pain. 5 hours and 22 minutes later, I turned the last corner and entered the finish line chute and there was my dad, he yelled “you’re a marathoner now” and I started to cry. I crossed the finish line sobbing as an air force officer placed a big medal around my neck. My parents rushed towards me and I rushed to the closest garbage can so I could throw up. It was one of the best days of my life.
The second time I ran a marathon I was 26 and was much better prepared. I ate well, followed a great training plan and I felt ready to try this crazy thing again. This time we ran a little closer to home, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October 2013. My dad ran that race as well, finishing in 3 hours 21 minutes at the age of 53. I finished in 4 hours and 44 minutes, cutting almost 40 minutes off my previous race and felt really good about it. When I approached the finish line, my dad was there at 200m to go. He ran along beside the race course, despite having run a marathon already that day, yelling at me to keep pushing and I was almost there. The first marathon I was sobbing, marathon 2, I was smiling from ear to ear. At the 100m mark I saw my mom, my sister and Luke (my future husband) on one side of the chute screaming, and my best friend on the other side of the chute, also screaming. I crossed the finish line, got my medal and found my family. It was once again one of the best days of my life.
It’s been 8 years since I ran a marathon. In that time I’ve run a lot of half marathons and completed a few triathlons. I started road biking more and more. I was planning to run another half marathon in 2020 but it was cancelled. But I’ve decided 2021, 10 years since my first attempt at a marathon is when I will attempt marathon number 3. This summer I will train and in the fall I will run another 42.2km. I will be writing about it here once in a while, and I’ll keep you guys updated. I’m so excited to be tackling this monster again! And don’t worry, I already roped my dad into doing it with me.
If you want to run along with me, I’ve started a virtual run club on Instagram! Every Thursday I’ve invited my followers to join me for a run or walk. You can do your workout any time of the day on Thursday, tag me on Instagram and I’ll share your story! You can also use the hashtag #RunWithAngie if you want. I would love to hear what you got up to on Thursday or if you’re planning to join! Today we have our first run/walk and it will be so fun!
Angie
Read With Angie 