Last year, I ran a PR at the Downhill@Dawn Half Marathon at the beginning of June. I took it easy for the rest of the summer, running my favorite 2-mile route on my lunch break, cycling A LOT, and swimming with the local Master’s Swim Team. Summer in Alabama is no joke, so I knew it would be a gamble to schedule a race right at the beginning of my primary running season (fall/winter), but I did it anyway because I’m a glutton for punishment!

The months flew by quickly and when it came time to run the Nashville Women’s Running Series Half Marathon at the end of September, I had not even come close to putting in the necessary distance work for a good race. On top of that, I had hurt my ankle from wearing sky-high heels for too long at a wedding in August.

Excuses aside, I traveled to Nashville without the rest of the family, which was a nice little “mom’s day out” vacation, I ran an extremely hilly course on a hot day, and I earned my medal (and a mimosa) while benefiting an excellent cause. The race was well organized and Nashville is a beautiful city that I’d love to visit again. I joked with some of my fellow runners that the race may have been for women but a man definitely selected the race course–hills, hills, and more hills all the way to the bitter end.

My official finish time was 2:19:22. I wasn’t very pleased with the results, which is why I went home and immediately scheduled another race 5 weeks later in Kentucky. I took two weeks off for recovery, ran a collective 13 miles spread over week three, and a 5k on the weekend before my race. Despite being extremely sick with GI issues two days before racing, I earned a brand new PR of 1:54:38.

Sometimes you have a bad race and sometimes you have a good race. For me, the weather on race day makes a big difference–a 25 minute difference in the case of Tennessee (70 degrees) vs. Kentucky (25 degrees). I’m learning to be kinder to myself when I don’t meet my own expectations, but I haven’t quite mastered the ability yet.

I told my husband when he proposed that I would never want a bicycle built for two–I want my own bike, dammit! I guess that’s what keeps me hungry, though, and in all honesty I’m not ready to part with that independent, high-expectation-driven side of my personality (and probably never will). I’ll just keep racing and pushing myself until I hit my ultimate goal or my body tells me it’s time to ride that bicycle, after all.

Thanks for reading!

Sara

This whole bed is mine!

Mimosa bar!!

Pedicures… just say no.

I found a much better use for this 2-hr race pace bib.