This is (or will be) a joint blog chronicling mine (Nic) and NiCole's journey to the Space Coast Marathon on December 1st!
But first, who are we? We are 2 friends who met at work in Jacksonville, FL back in 2008. We started running together and after a 5K or two decided we needed a bigger challenge, so we signed up for the Gate River Run 15K training program. After completing the 15K race, I managed to keep running for a few weeks before it got too hot and I got too lazy!
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| Waiting for the Gate River Run to Start |
Even though I got lazy, I still liked to run races (it's just the training that sucks), so I joined NiCole in some 5Ks, a 10miler and even a couple of half marathons. With minimal training those longer races are tough! Not just the actual race, the following few days HURT!
So, fast forward a bit, I moved to Gainesville last year to start grad school at UF and lost my running buddy :( Once I'd settled in to school and the new town, I decided to resume running in an effort to lose weight and get fit again. So far, the furthest I've run since starting training again is 4.66 miles, but I'm ready to go!
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| Our bit of graffiti at the Expedition Everest |
This is the other half of Nic squared, NiCole. In fact, we remained friends after she went back to England to finish her degree since Nic had come over to the "states" as an intern for a year. During those first few months of our friendship we ran a few races but it really didn't become serious until after she came back to Jacksonville to work before going on to school.
During that first year Nic was back in Jacksonville we did end up doing quite a few races and actually improved our times, lost weight and learned a few lessons about proper running shoes and other equipment. When we first started out we were very low "tech". We would use watches to do intervals at first and maybe each of us would have an iPod. Even though we don't run that much together now I still run with one of my earbuds in because we used to have random chats during our runs and I just got used to being able to hear other things besides music all the time.
Just like Nic, I got lazy after we run that first Gate River Run and stopped running. Sometimes I even had trouble getting up early to make it to the group runs on the weekend. I really like sleeping in on the weekend so I always had to motivate myself to get up. I also liked to run races and so we did decide to run some long races with little training but we did have nice shoes! That first 10 mile I could barely walk after it for a few days. We have gotten smarter and actually train to run that distance now instead of just running even though we had fun doing it but paid for it later.
After Nic moved to Gainesville to go to graduate school I convinced another woman at work to join me in training for a half marathon on Thanksgiving day last year. There is a half marathon training class in the fall every year that is led by an incredible runner who likes to share his experiences. I ended up running two half marathons last year even though at the start of the training class I wanted to run three half marathons in three months like Nic and I had done in 2011 (don't forget that was without training because we are a little crazy). Unfortunately, life and a slight ankle injury after saving a turtle got in the way. I did run both of those half marathons faster than I had the previous year and I also had a blast doing it. It was a little weird to sign up for these races since Nic had left because she was a big part of my running routine but I did it and have improved my times as I went along. I finished the Gate this year in my best time yet but I have slacked off recently and need the motivation to get moving again.
Now that Nic has gotten used to her class schedule and things aren't as hectic for her we have decided to train for a full marathon together but in different cities. So we sign up for races in each others cities and try to visit each other once a month to keep the energy and motivation going. We are following a similar training plan and motivating each other through text, phone calls or IM. You name it and we have usually talked to each other that day with one of those options.
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| At the end of the Jacksonville Bank half marathon |
This is our journey and I am sure there are going to be some stories. We already have some pretty interesting and funny running stories that I am sure we will share throughout this journey along with the new ones.
Oh, and one more thing....we really like beer. A lot.
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