1/2 Marathon | Keeping up with Kate

Half Marathon in the Books

Posted on September 27, 2015 by keepingupwithkate91

This is way overdue!! This has been in draft form since early April. Been a super busy 2015 but really want to share my story below.

On January 1^st of this year I started a run / walk program (as a result of my Jan – Mar travel schedule doing Market Reviews for work). Some of you know my LOVE of Running (or not) – I’ve been very vocal about how much I despise running!

I started off slow with a 2 minute run / 4 minute walk. By the end of January, I was up to 5 miles and in a training program for a Half Marathon (my first) (2 minute run / 1:30 walk). I think I finally signed up for the Philly Love Run on February 1^st. I’ve progressed to 2 minutes run / 1:15 walk. There were 10K runners – I was #7389!

Sunday, March 29th was the 2^nd Annual Philly Love Run at 8 am – it was a balmy (and windy) 27 degrees! The sun was shining and it wasn’t raining – bonus!!

Pre-Race – 27 degrees – March 29th!

I finished in 3 hours, 15 minutes. About 15 minutes behind where I wanted to be (the hills between mile 8 and 9 killed me! 🙂 – something to work on). Just as a I was getting to the Finish Line I heard the announcer say my name and that I was just about to complete my first 1/2 Marathon- it was awesome – I think it was right about then that I put my arms in the air as I started to cross the FINISH LINE! (and thank you to the ladies below and Todd for waiting for me to finish – it meant the world to me to have such a great support team!)

Shortly after I crossed the Finish LIne – with my Medal!

I’m happy to say I’m a Half Marathoner! And I would’ve never guessed in a million years I would say that (much less have completed one). It was such an inspirational day! I was running and walking with half marathoners – many who were a lot faster than me and some not – it was great seeing people pushing themselves to the limit both mentally and physically. Quite honestly it kept me going and I was in awe!

The Moment!

And a week or two ago, I signed up for the Philly LOVE Run for 2016 – April 10, 2016 – here I come!

Never Say Never

Posted on December 30, 2014 by keepingupwithkate91

I can’t believe it has been almost 2 months since I’ve written. To say it has been cray cray is an understatement. Lots of changes going on at work (for me all good so far) – which is also the driver of this post.

You know how the saying goes, ‘Never Say Never.’ Ask any of my BP gals when they ask me if I’m interested in marathon or triathlon training and I tell they I will cheer them and and I think they are crazy. I’ll ‘Never do that’. If I’m really honest, I’ve been less and less saying no way. And thinking I should give it a shot. But then again I think – they are nuts! (and they know I say that with LOVE).

It isn’t as if I didn’t run for sports in high school – I played field hockey for 6 years and was on the track and field team for 3 years – where I did a lot of running. I just never liked it – I could run during games without an issue – go figure.

Now fast forward through my life to about 2 weeks ago and I start looking at my business travel schedule. I look at the schedule and think – I need to get some structure around my workout schedule and I need to do it quickly. I recall seeing one of my trainers posting a winter 1/2 Marathon Training starting at the end of January. I think – hmmm – is this the push I need to try this. So I find out if I can get a walk / run program and get started before the end of January training. The answer was a YES with encouragement for me to do this.

So I’m going to give this running thing a go as I’ve worked too hard over the last two years to allow a couple months of business travel to derail me now. I’m staying optimistic that with the right training and starting out with the walk / run that maybe just maybe I’ll find something else I enjoy doing.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m scared – because I sure am. I’m also embracing to see what I learn about myself over the next few months as I go through this training as I know it will definitely challenge my both mentally and physically. I will keep you posted on my journey.

Couch to …

Posted on May 8, 2012 by keepingupwithkate91

1/2 Marathon or ???

Over the weekend I received a text from one of my BFF’s from college (TBG) that said the following, “What would you say if I thought we should do the Disney Princess Half Marathon next February?? We could make it a girls weekend!!” My first reaction was to laugh and it took me awhile to even respond so guess I was a bit speechless too (and special note: girls weekend <> running). I finally responded with a “Who are you? And what have you done with Tracy?” I never responded No at any point though (which is important as I dislike, loathe, hate running – you get the picture). At some point in the afternoon we spoke – and I agreed to do it with a couple of caveats – I have a knee injury and need to lose some weight (which I believe is also contributing to my knee injury) before I could completely commit. I also found out the TBG shared with her husband that the two of us were doing the 1/2 Marathon – he wanted to know if I knew it yet – which I didn’t 🙂 This still makes me laugh!

So then reality started to set in – will my knee be able to handle, will I lose some of the extra weight that I’m carrying around before I start training (which I believe is part of the knee problem), what would my time per mile be? – then I did the math – 2 hours + probably running for me – I’m just not mentally there yet – nor do I truly believe Couch to 1/2 Marathon is a smart thing to do from a training perspective.

Today, TBG and I agreed to the following:

Complete the Disney Princess 5K next year with a girls trip (either weekend / maybe week)!
Complete the Disney 1/2 Marathon the year we turn 45!

I’m looking forward to the challenges of completing each goal!