Is it just me or did 2011 fly by?!? Going into 2011, I knew an attempt at an ultra marathon was on my list along with redeeming myself for missing qualifying for Boston by less than a minute. Little did I know that 2011 would also be full of PRs, challenges, adventures, friends, and love.
2011 started off with a bang – my first 50K! My goal was 5 hours, but I finished the Frosty 50K in 4:41:05 and felt good at the end. My biggest disappointment was that I did not take full advantage of the massive amount of calories burnt and had a subpar dinner. Ugh. A week later (and the night before the race) I decided to run the Charleston marathon. I was okay with pulling out if I felt bad, but I ended up having a great race, a PR and a BQ! I knew by mile 10 that I was going to qualify for Boston and could not wait to finish so I could call my parents and tell them the great news. I ran the race in 3:34:08, which was almost a 7 minute PR and fast enough to win my age group. So, I was only two weeks into the New Year and had already met both of my running goals – run an ultra and BQ. I was called an over-achiever in school!
I had wanted to give tris a try, so I found a bike, started training, and raced my first tri in March. I had a blast, despite falling off my bike when it was stopped, and ended up racing a few more tris during the tri season. Luckily, I managed to stay on my bike in the rest of them! Since I was doing more swimming, I also swam the Swim for Drew, which is a 2-mile swim across Lake Murray. It starts on the Irmo side of the dam and ends on the beach on the Lexington side. I was slow, but felt strong the whole way and really enjoyed it.
To mix things up, I started running trails more. I raced 5 trails races and had solid races in all but one; I started way too fast at the Make My Day 12K, felt horrible, and got passed by a few females, but it worked out because I ended up winning my age group and snagging an awesome pair of Salomon trail running shoes.
My boyfriend, who I met at the Frosty 50K, mentioned a 24-hour race to me – Hinson 24. It sounded like fun and a new adventure, so I was in. I absolutely loved this race for many, many reasons (refer to race report). I logged 53.2 miles, which is way more than I expected since I hadn’t really trained for it, so I was very pleased and am already signed up for Hinson 24 2012!
Despite being injured for the majority of 2011 (sesamoiditis/metarsalgia and tight hip muscles), I managed to set PRs in every distance I raced. I started relaxing more (well, as relaxed as I can get before a race) and just ran as hard as I could! I got down to 21:30 for the 5K distance, had under a 7:20 pace for the 10K distance, big marathon PR, and auto-PRs for 50K and 24-hours since those were my first attempts (but surpassed my goals so I’ll count as PRs). The Palmetto 200 was tough because my foot hated me, but I had a great time with my team and loved running with them!
I started my blog to mainly keep track of my race reports for myself and also for anyone else who wanted to read them. The Georgia marathon was looking for bloggers, so I was given the opportunity to write for them, as well. It gives me something to do that’s easy on my body, so I’m enjoying it!
Shout out to my sister: She was the race director for the Dog Gone Cold 5K and did a PHENOMENAL job! We expected maybe 150 runners or so, but due to all of her hard work, over 350 people showed up to run her race and support her and her charity, Hopeful Hounds! I am so proud of her and this will always be my most cherished win.
To wrap things up, 2011 was the first year that I did the majority of my running with friends. There were very few races that I went to by myself, ran by myself, or didn’t know anyone. It was nice having friends around to chat with and to run with. I made new friends throughout the year and am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.
