Runniversary

runniversary

On Labor Day, 2011, MFH (My Favorite Husband) and I set foot outside our front door and I started the C25K program.

Bear in mind MFH had been running almost our entire 32 years of marriage so he was a huge help!

We didn’t have/own a Garmin.  We had a Timex watch and the kitchen timer.  He’d set the timer for my 60 seconds of “running” and tell me “Run!”  I’d “run.”  Then he’d set the timer for 90 seconds of walking and he’d say, “Walk!” and I’d walk.  He came out every morning through the entire C25K program to time me and encourage me and keep me moving.  He was awesome!!!

2d7589d3b80a512a7c70bff54cf4b640

We had printed off the C25K schedule and stuck it to the kitchen fridge.  After each day’s workout, we’d come back to the house and with great satisfaction, I’d cross that day’s workout off the chart.

You know, six years later, I STILL get great satisfaction from crossing a workout off my plan?  I’ll turn myself inside out to be able to do that!

At the completion of the program, Mississippi State University (MSU) held a 5k race, so we ran that to celebrate completing the program~but something happened to me at that race~I fell head over heels in love with running!

Crossing that finish line…58 minutes later (speed has never been my friend) I was hooked!  I knew I had to do this again!

308784_2117623869081_1230260005_n

About 6 weeks later, MFH and I were running a 12k in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  A few months later a 10k in Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Then followed a few more 5k’s but I had this thought in the back of my head, “I wonder if I could run a Half Marathon?”

Fall 2012 you would have found MFH and I in Meridian, Mississippi, running my first Half Marathon!

IMG_0490

A year later, in 2013, MFH and I ran my first marathon and MFH’s 3rd in Bar Harbor, Maine.

1422628_465206556932819_76101483_n

Bear in mind, every training run and every race since the very first day of C25K, MFH and I had run every single step together.  For two years we had trained and raced side by side.  As we began the training for that first marathon, he told me that this would be his last long distance race.

I have to admit to him being totally awesome through all of this!  Racing isn’t his cup of tea but he did it because he wanted to see me succeed.  He did it because he wanted to make sure I would be okay.  He did it because he loves me!

When we returned home from Maine and that marathon, he told me that he was confident that I would run smart and safe and that I would now be training solo.

I was scared and excited!

I’ll never forget that first solo training run.  It was a Wednesday and that is our trash collection day.  As I was running towards the railroad tracks on Evans Rd, I met up with the garbage truck.  The “guys” stopped the truck in the middle of the road and asked me, “Where’s your husband?”  I told them that I was training solo now and their immediate reply was, “You be careful!”

Ever since that day, those wonderful trash collectors AND the guys that work on the county road crew keep an eye on me.  If I’m on a long run, the county road crew guys will ask my route and make passes on the roads to check on me.

That’s the sweetest thing ever!!!

Good people where I live.

Just like when I ran those earlier races, I started to wonder if I could run further than the marathon distance (26.2 miles).  I began to entertain the idea of trying ultra’s (any distance further than a marathon).

A year after my first marathon, I ran my first ultra marathon(2014).  I’ve been blessed to have run 5 ultra marathons and am currently training for a 100 mile race this coming December and a 50 mile race in January 2018.

16684148_1230375950415872_5233158507153698136_n

If you’ve been doing the math as I’ve been chatting and watching the pics I’ve posted, you’ll have figured out I’ve been running a total of six years now.  You’ll also probably noticed I’ve dropped a bit of weight!

Since MFH and I have moved to Mississippi from Colorado, by eating sensibly and becoming more active, I’ve managed to drop 170 lbs.

This has been such an exciting time in our lives!  There’s no way any of this would have been remotely possible without the support and encouragement of MFH.  This guy deserves HUGE kudos!

To celebrate 6 years running, MFH went out to grab a few miles together.  We don’t run together as much anymore.  It’s not that we don’t like running together, it’s just that we have different running goals.  I love to run for a LONG time.  MFH thinks that after an hour it quits being fun.  After running an hour, I’m finally starting to get warmed up.  LOL!!!

That being said, any time we run together is a huge treat!  It brings back the memories of him hula dancing up hills in tough races to help me keep my mind off that fact that everything hurt.  It brings back the memories of him singing the Hawaii 5-0 theme song to distract me from discomfort and when that song got worn out, switching to the Rocky theme song.  Thanks goodness he never put Eye of the Tiger in his repertoire! Hahaha!!!  Great miles with the best guy ever!  Thank you, Sweetie!!!

21272652_1436436296476502_7522446153060397866_n

 

#IRun4Aiden

21430617_1442082785911853_615362789609893065_n