I’m Alive! 2014 Space Coast Marathon Recap and Other Ramblings

Hey there – remember me?? I’m still alive! Barely. Life has been insane — between endless events, the holidays, and being busy beyond belief at work, blogging has obviously taken a backseat. I thought about quitting this blog about 20 times, but then realized that I missed it and here I am.

Let’s get this out of the way… I survived the Bad Idea Marathon. Obviously. It wasn’t easy and I wanted to quit about 800 times, but I got it done — and I’m SO HAPPY IT’S OVER!

Worth it.

I also surpassed my goal (which was officially “Don’t quit/die.”) and I also beat my 1st marathon time, which I have to admit surprises me immensely. It really just goes to show that my conditioning/training for Chicago was so much more effective than it was for Savannah.

Looks like someone else is happy I’m done.

I finished in 4:20:07. The most impressive (to me) part is that I ran/walked the last 5 miles because my heel hurt SO badly. Kinda makes me wonder what I COULD have done if I wasn’t haven’t plantar fasciitis issues. Damn heel.

Looking entirely too happy – bonking at mile 21.

Pretty much the view the entire time. Not horrible.

I would do a full recap of this marathon, but to be honest, I have mentally blocked the misery out of my mind. I will say that I enjoyed the first half much more than the second half and that I will never do Space Coast as a marathon again (I haven’t ruled out the half though!). I’ve also decided that I DO want to run more marathons, but one a year is sufficient. Half marathons are more my thing.

Also, I am incredibly proud of both of my running buddies – Paula and Tyler.

Paula was in the same boat as me — she just did NOT want to be running this race and kicked ass anyway.

At one point we lost Tyler and took selfies.

As for Tyler — he was aiming for sub-4, which I KNEW he could do as long as he didn’t go out too fast. Not only did he sub-4, but he came in 3:54!!

Tyler just loooooves this picture.

I’m going to guess that he trained with someone even faster (not me!), that he would be able to many, many minutes off of that time. I’m not ready for him to quit me yet though. I have some serious spring half marathon PR goals and I need him to push me! #selfish

Oh, and another person I’m INCREDIBLY proud of? Victoria. She’s speedy.

As for what’s next — well, my heel is STILL bothering me, despite taking a month off from running. It’s definitely better than it was, but I need to get back into higher mileage (or any mileage) very slowly.

I AM running ZOOMA Florida (you should join me — use my code to save!) in January – probably the 12K (insta-PR!), and I have Best Damn Race Orlando February 28th where I have a major A goal — a 1:50 half. In order to hit that goal though I need my heel to be better AND I need to do some serious speedwork training. Ugh, I’m already dreading it.

I have zero intentions run a marathon in 2015, BUT it’s still early. I could be talked into it. Maybe.

I do need to find some more half marathons to run in the next few months. Taking this month off of running has been great for my mojo, I definitely MISS it.

So here’s to 2015 – a year of running and other fun challenges, little injury (*fingers crossed*), and lots of fun. And maybe a little blogging.

Also… From my family to yours… Happy Holidays!