From 5K to Marathon Dreaming: A Three Year Journey
Today, Facebook reminded me of something that happened three years ago ...
Three years ago today (2/20), I completed my first 5K, the runDisney (Freezing) Frozen 5K. Until a few weeks before the race, I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish. Once I knew I could do it, I thought 10K might be the next step in 2-3 years, and then a half in 2020. A marathon wasn't even something I was considering.
I honestly don't know when marathon went from "never going to happen" to "two in one year." I know there was some talk a while back on
@Ariel484's old training journal about the 30th anniversary in 2023. I remember last year on Facebook my friend asked me if I was doing 9+1. I fell in love with the 25th anniversary marathon medal when I saw it on Twitter. But I don't know how these factors (and any other potential factors) came together to get me to planning vacation days in January. What I do know is that, as much as I will probably panic a lot between now and January, I feel ready to do this.
In honor of the 3rd anniversary of my first race as an adult (for those of you who didn't already know this ... I did peewee races as a kid, and pretty much always came in last), I thought I'd look back on how I got to this point.
2015: My First Races
February 2015 - Princess Weekend, aka my love affair with runDisney begins
I honestly don't know how anyone could possibly do a runDisney race and not fall in love. Even with the sub-freezing temperatures and characters I'd met before, this was such an amazing and fun race. In fact, as a result of walking this race, my sister decided to start running so that we could do a runDisney 10K in 2016 (in case anyone was curious how my schedule got accelerated ... it was all Beth).
November 2015 - Prospect Park Turkey Trot 5 Mile, aka I can love local races too
I did this race to help me bridge the gap between 5K and 10K. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. This was the first year of what would become an annual Thanksgiving morning tradition for me (Beth sat this one out because she was injured).
2016: My First 10K
January 2016 - Marathon Weekend 5K & 10K, aka rain is the worst
5K - Beth and I did this one together, super casual (partially because both of us were recovering from injuries). Lots of fun characters (I forced Beth to stop for every character, even ones we don't care about), and it really reinforced our love of runDisney.
10K - This was the disaster race. Serious rain made for fewer characters and overall not my favorite experience. I decided to make the best of it, but I knew I needed a do-over at some point. I was hoping to get back the next year, but alas, it was not to be.
November 2016 - PPTC Turkey Trot 5 Mile, aka my first repeat race
I assume you guys all recognize me by the skirt ... this race was actually the debut of the NYC skirt, which I had bought a few weeks earlier at the NYC marathon expo.
2017: Run Local (The Year of 9 Races)
February 2017 - Central Park Half Marathon, aka my first half
After a lot of deliberation, in which I determined that I was ready for a half but wasn't going to make it to a Disney half just yet, I signed up for this. I learned that I hate running in Central Park, but at the end of the day ... I was a half marathoner, and that was something pretty amazing.
June 2017 - Narrows Half Marathon & YIJE L'Chaim 5K, aka run with family and friends
Narrows Half Marathon - I ran this because my cousin was coming up from Maryland to run it. My cousin from NJ also ran it. They both finished a bit ahead of me, but it was nice to experience this with them (especially because there were a few out and backs in this, so we crossed paths a few times)
YIJE L'Chaim 5K - This is my synagogue's annual 5K. I volunteered the first year. I've thought about running it once or twice since (I think my brother did run it when he was in high school). It was nice to run around my stomping grounds surrounded by a community of people, some of whom I've known for 30+ years.
July 2017 -
Firecracker 5K, aka "A Race A Month" Continues
I don't know where my one race a month idea came from, but it happened. This was my July entry. It was hot and I didn't bring my own water (and I didn't feel like they had enough on the course). It was on Governor's Island, which is beautiful, and it really wasn't a bad race at all.
August 2017 - France Run 8K, aka My first (adult NYRR)
This was yet another brutal Central Park race. But ... it showed me that while I am one of the slower runners at NYRR races, I'm not the slowest, and there's no reason to be afraid of NYRR races.
October-November 2017 - Haunted Island 10K, RangersTown 5K, PPTC Turkey Trot 5 Mile, aka 3 races in less than a month
Haunted Island 10K - In which I achieved a PR that I couldn't even imagine was possible. I don't know when I managed to pick up that kind of speed, but ... it felt kind of amazing to smash all of my expectations and goals.
RangersTown 5K - My favorite non-Disney race. Possibly my favorite race period. In addition to an unimaginable PR, I also had an incredible amount of fun. This was the perfect race.
PPTC 5 Mile - Year 3. Didn't love it as much this year ... maybe because I knew what else was out there for me. Next year's return is questionable.
2018: 9+1
January 2018 - Fred Lebow Manhattan Half, aka begin all the qualifying
Not my best race by a long shot, but the first step towards reaching some incredible goals that I never thought would be possible.
PRs:
5K - 30:40 (RangersTown 5K, 11/12/17)
5 Mi - 55:33 (PPTC Turkey Trot, 11/24/2016)
10K - 1:05:36 (Haunted Island 10K, 10/29/2017)
Half Marathon - 2:31:08 (Narrows Half Marathon, 6/4/2017)
In pictures and a few words, that's my last three years of running. It's really been such an incredible journey, and the races are only a small part of that. I'm very excited to see what the next year brings.
(I was going to also post some long run related thoughts that came out of this past week's run and a conversation with Coach DB, but I've officially been awake for almost 20 hours now, so I should probably go to sleep now (stay tuned for those thoughts). Still no idea what I'm wearing tomorrow (first day onsite at the client), though ... ahhhh!!!)
), but they do have a few other ones I like in large, so we'll see what I decide.
