My Story

Since the beginning of 2012 I have become pretty health obsessed. In February I decided I would work out every day at lunch.  A couple months later I started watching what I ate.  On May 20th I ran the Oberstdorf half-marathon with a time of 1:49:55 (350m elevation; avg. 8:23/mile) and got second in my age class as well as 21st woman overall.  I was addicted.  I had never won anything athletic (or much otherwise) as an adult.  Almost immediately I signed up for a marathon (Koln, October 14, 2012).  I trained regularly and then got restless.  I was in great shape, why should I wait until October?  So I signed up for the Monschau Marathon. 

I trained throughout the summer and started exploring a vegetarian diet, a nutritarian diet and a paleo diet.  I'm in the process of working out what will work best for me, but I feel a lot healthier having cut most meat, dairy, refined grains and added sugar out of my diet. 

On August 5th, I went on a hike with a couple of crossfit trainers and a bunch of friends.  Tim & Elisa had told me about crossfit, but running was my thing, so I didn't pay too much attention.  The hike was so much fun!  We did all sorts of crossfit workouts along the way.  I've gone to local crossfit sessions a few times and absolutely love it.  I'm starting to feel tough like I never have before.  It is already a big challenge trying to balance the two training methods, but I'm excited to try it. 

I ran the Monschau Marathon (my first) on August 12th and finished at 4:06:10 (750m elevation; avg. 9:27/mile).  I didn't walk, I was third in my age class and 22nd woman overall.  I was feeling pretty great up until mile 19, when the hurt set in.  I put on my headphones and somehow powered through the last 7 miles.  I'm pretty sure I was nearly crying as I crossed the finish line.  But I had made it.  I always felt like a  runner, but now I was a marathoner. 

Me immediately post-marathon, Paul & me at the awards ceremony

I'm hoping to drop my time for Koln in October with a blend of crossfit and running, and I will be joining my dad for Maratona di Roma on March 17, 2013.  I'm looking for a half marathon or a fun Christmas-y race in December, but haven't nailed anything down yet. 

I've never been overweight or had any real health problems, but I was no where near as active as I need to be from ages 16-23.  I'm in the best shape of my life and I don't want to backslide.  I really feel changes in my body and I feel like I could become competitive or at least reach a lot of my fitness goals over the next couple of decades. 

My biggest longterm goal right now is the Leadville 100 mile race in August of 2014.  26.2 miles hurt a lot, I can't even imagine running 100 miles at this point.  But, I'll take it one step at a time.  If I can train for and successfully run a marathon I believe I can do much more.  This blog is basically a way to make me accountable, at least to myself.  My goal is to post regularly about my training, diet, progress and my travels.  Since moving to Europe it's getting hard to keep track of all I've seen!