Rockford Half-Marathon Finisher!

I DID it! Training, planning, running and running some more! I ran the FARTHEST I have ever run in my life. I am proud of myself. I have come a long way, baby. Thinking back to no more than one year ago, I: 1. weighed 185 pounds. 2. started losing weight. 3. started running. 4. Did a 1-miler, a 2-miler, a 5K, a 10-miler and now: 5. A Half-Marathon! (13.1 miles) I am a sprinter, no question. I went, what I considered to be, fast. Here are my stats as a "middle-of-the-packer": ================================================================================ FEMALE AGE GROUP 30 - 34 (500) ================================================================================ 1 1396 Leslie Schaeffer 33 F 1:40:24 7:40 2 926 Jennie Bailey 34 F 1:41:56 7:47 3 1600 Colleen Carson 34 F 1:42:39 7:51 4 1529 Kelly Lucente 32 F 1:46:01 8:06 5 968 Sara Brackenrich 31 F 1:51:43 8:32 6 1264 Sheri McWilliams 34 F 1:52:04 8:34 7 1055 Melissa Dunbar 33 F 1:53:56 8:42 8 1555 Maggie Schnoor 31 F 1:55:11 8:48 9 1454 Jessica Svoboda 34 F 1:56:15 8:53 10 1319 Tania Paterick-Sterud 32 F 1:56:38 8:55 11 1524 Jeannette Zilli 34 F 1:56:43 8:55 12 1246 Mary Kate Martinelli 30 F 1:57:20 8:58 13 1206 Reetta Kylakoski 33 F 1:57:55 9:01 14 1472 Tricia Ulferts 34 F 1:58:56 9:05 15 1213 Pernille Lausten 34 F 1:59:08 9:06 16 1536 Kelly Speltz 34 F 1:59:52 9:09 17 1500 Megan Welbourne 31 F 2:01:04 9:15 18 1283 Gina Montano 31 F 2:01:09 9:15 19 1075 Jessica Ferguson 33 F 2:02:17 9:21 20 978 Jessica Buch 31 F 2:04:27 9:30 21 1249 Lorena Martinez 34 F 2:05:24 9:35 22 1043 Betty Dilley 34 F 2:08:13 9:48 23 1430 Juliana Silvestri 31 F 2:09:14 9:52 24 1370 Kelli Rolston 34 F 2:12:57 10:09 25 1260 Heather McLauchlan 33 F 2:14:20 10:16 26 1303 Marty Offutt 30 F 2:16:54 10:27 27 1437 Jennifer Slabaugh 34 F 2:20:02 10:42 28 1181 Cassie Kaltenbrun 31 F 2:22:49 10:55 29 1145 Beth Hild 33 F 2:23:13 10:56 30 1049 Heather Dowd 32 F 2:23:54 11:00 31 1507 Buffy Wicks 30 F 2:24:42 11:03 32 1228 Michele Long 33 F 2:24:48 11:04 33 1556 Becky Krueger 32 F 2:25:08 11:05 34 1135 Amy Hart 33 F 2:26:36 11:12 35 1173 Loren Johnson 30 F 2:27:57 11:18 36 1020 Kimberly Cook 34 F 2:29:08 11:24 37 1433 Mary Simpson 33 F 2:31:16 11:33 38 1048 Mary Lynn Doherty 34 F 2:31:20 11:34 39 1332 Aurelia Pocklington 30 F 2:32:20 11:38 40 1519 Ericka Yancey 34 F 2:32:47 11:40 41 1471 Christy Udell 32 F 2:32:48 11:40 42 939 Rebecca Barton 30 F 2:33:58 11:46 43 971 Anna Brahmstedt Akerlu 31 F 2:34:09 11:47 44 1134 Natasha Harroff 34 F 2:34:10 11:47 45 1359 Dalma Rigaud 30 F 2:34:37 11:49 46 388 Maia Youngbrandt 30 F 2:35:47 11:54 47 1322 Jacqueline Perez 30 F 2:38:31 12:06 48 1210 Imelda Lagunas 30 F 2:38:31 12:06 49 1302 Erin Obrien 32 F 2:44:12 12:33 50 1400 Andrea Schiller 30 F 2:47:42 12:49 51 1244 Tonya Markert 33 F 2:53:21 13:14 8:55 per mile pace! That's pretty good for never having run 13.1 miles EVER. And, did I mention that I've lost almost 60 pounds? This has been a banner year, full of emotion, discipline and training. Of course, it's no Boston Qualifying pace, but I am happy, because I wasn't trying to make the Boston Marathon. I was trying to finish my first half-marathon and go to bed in the evening without having a full-blown panic attack. Success achieved! I am SO proud of the group that I ran with as well. Each of us (Laura, Reetta and Pernille) ALL managed sub-2:00 hour half-marathons! Success achieved! Laura even placed third in her age group (40-44)! SAY WHAT??? I am so totally proud that I was able to run with these gals. I am inspired by so many of my fellow ladies. Roscoe Roadies, way to go! Want some pictures? Sure. I really like this picture that Erik took. Here I am in my orange shorts, running into the frame. You can see the park (Davis Landing) where all the festivities were held and the bridge and River which we ran over to get to the finish. VERY cool. Here I am waving to my adoring fans! I was WAY excited to see Indigo, River and Daddy cheering me on at the Finish Line! I really was. It makes my day and life to have their support; it really does. There I go! HEY! See my time there? Yup. Under 2 hours! YAYAYAYAYAY! Training was involved. Do not attempt without appropriate training! LOL! This is Laura and me. I am so proud of this Laura gal! She placed 3rd in her age group! WAY TO GO!!! Here is the beautiful and stunning Maegan and myself. So the back story on us? We started in this crazy idea of joining the "Beginning Running Club" at the Y last year with Mary E. We began together running 30 seconds. That was it. 30 seconds. Now? After less than one year? 13.1 miles without stopping. a Half-Marathon finisher. Both of us. And to think we laughed less than a year ago that we couldn't manage to run 4 minutes without stopping. Amazing. Look at this stunning group of wild women! Every single one of us managed to do 13.1 miles and received a medal on this glorious day. Sure, we're tired. Yes, we've trained. And DAMN. We look good! Did I mention we all got medals for finishing? So cool. Unexpected bonus! I had no idea we would be getting finishing medals. I think we look like the best alumni cross country team out there! The final picture, we capture Pernille and Andrea who eluded us for earlier pictures. We are in Davis Park getting massages, goody bags, meeting our husbands and families and connecting to go out to the Stockholm Inn after the run. It was quite a day. Did I mention we ran 13.1 miles? The rest of my day was spent trying to eat, drink, rest and not panic since my body had been through quite an ordeal. It's the next day and the results are in. I'm alive AND I ran 3 miles this morning with the Beginning Run Club at the Y. Full circle, baby. Full circle.