October 07, 2013

Motivational Monday #35


There are a ton of motivating stories to share today, so I won't waste space with an intro. Congrats to everyone!


Amanda ran her third half-marathon--the Allstate 13.1 in Atlanta! She knew it was going to be a difficult race when she saw the shirts that read, "Run head over hills in Atlanta". The hills were killer! But she still managed an 11-minute PR with a finish time of 2:37. She said her proudest moment was watching her best friend, Jenni, cross the finish line. Amanda got Jenni into running a year and a half ago, and has loved watching her grow as a runner.



Amber completed her first 5K race--a run for chocolate! She says she has a long way to go on her journey, and she's very sore after the run, but she's proud for finishing strong (with her husband's support, as he ran with her). I love what she wrote here: "The best part of the run was as we crossed the finish line, the announcers could see the names attached to the chips on our bibs on their laptop. As we crossed the finish line they were cheering "You did it Amber! Great job! Way to go!" All the volunteers were cheering for me too. It made me cry. It helped me forget the way I felt after running in gym class."  I think a lot of us know what she means by that feeling of running in gym class!




Crystal ran her first 5K race this weekend! Despite spraining her ankles three weeks before the race, and the elevation increase at the location, she pushed herself to finish and she had a blast! (Crystal's race report)


Desiree inspires me, because she just doesn't give up! When she signed up for her first 5K, she just hoped she wouldn't be dead last. And it turned out that she did come in last; but she didn't let that stop her from being proud for finishing, or from signing up for another race! She ran another 5K this weekend, and again, was hoping not to be last. There were several walkers, and she passed them, which was promising; but then the walkers took a shortcut, taking about 3/4 of a mile off of their distance, and crossing the finish line before Desiree. So she finished last again (her caption of this pic had me cracking up--she said, "At least now I can say that I've actually had an opportunity to run from the po po" ;)  Desiree is proud of her finish, and has plans of training for a 10K next! (Desiree's race report)



Hannah completed her very first 5K (a glow run)! She was never a runner, and only had two months to train, but she decided to go for it an do her best. She ran/walked, and even with a side stitch, she finished under an hour, which was her goal. She said she had so much fun that she plans to do another! 


Ivayla ran her first half-marathon this weekend! She felt on top of the world crossing the finish line in 2:34. She did the Wineglass half-marathon--the medal is made out of a wine glass!



Stacy ran her first 5K race this weekend! She says she's always wanted to run a race, but was very intimidated by the "hardcore runners". Her goal was to finish under 45 minutes, and she ended up crushing that time, finishing in 36:48!



Jennifer completed her first 18-mile run yesterday! She's running her first marathon in a little over a month. And believe it or not, she was a self-proclaimed couch potato just 10 months ago!



Joyce completed her first half-marathon on Saturday! It was raining the entire race, which made it very difficult, but she persevered. She started running in 2012 as a way to keep off the 75 pounds that she lost through healthy eating and exercise!



Kathryn ran her second marathon on Sunday! She pulled her calf muscle and had a very difficult race, but she managed to push through and finish strong. Oh, and did I mention she did this AFTER losing 120 pounds?!



Laura has been a runner for 15 years, but has always struggled with her weight. Two and a half years ago, she decided to take control of that and she joined Weight Watchers. She lost 46 pounds! For the past year, she's been doing short triathlons; but this weekend, she completed her first Olympic distance tri! I had no idea how far that was, but it's an impressive 1500 meter swim (nearly a mile), 40K bike ride (nearly 25 miles), and a 10K run (6.2 miles). She finished in 3:20!  She had to work through a fear of open water swimming, but she did finished, and she's proud! (Laura's blog)


I love this picture of Mary and her husband at the finish line after Mary ran her first marathon! Despite tendonitis for the last 10 miles of the race, she managed to complete the Portland Marathon yesterday in 6:43. She had amazing support from her family and friends, and is super proud to have pushed through the pain to finish the race! (Mary's blog)



Rhonda has been training all summer to run her first full marathon--at age 57. And at the Portland Marathon yesterday, she finished in 5:45! She took up running a few years ago after losing a whopping 80 pounds!



Shannon has done five 5K's over the past year--she deliberately chose the fun, untimed ones. After taking the summer off due to injury, she signed up on a whim for a 5K race. With an injured foot and a stroller, she walked much slower than ever before, but she is very proud of herself for getting out there and doing it, regardless! She said she doesn't "run for cookies", but she does "waddle for beer" ;)



In yesterday's post, I mentioned I was stalking a friend online who was running his first marathon--well, that would be Thomas! (I plan on introducing my whole Ragnar SoCal team soon, but Thomas is our Runner #3). Anyway, Thomas had an ambitious goal of 3:45 for his first marathon, and he crushed that goal at the Portland Marathon yesterday... finishing in 3:36:42!! By the way, Thomas wasn't always a runner; he got into running to help lose weight, and he lost 50 pounds! Now he's running 3:36 marathons ;)  (Thomas' blog)


Amanda ran her first mud/obstacle run this weekend! She was terrified going into it, but succeeded without any injuries (except the typical bruises and scrapes). She was very proud of herself for doing this race at 280 pounds. Her husband stuck with her, and they finished together!




Pamela not only reached the 70-lbs lost milestone this week, she also managed a huge PR on her 5K! After her last, she said she was going to "leave that 48:35 in the dust"; and she finished this race in 38:16! She said it's surreal that she went from a 20:07 mile pace on her first day of training to a 12:20 pace at her race. She plans to go for a 10K soon!



Don't forget to check out the Motivational Monday Facebook post for more stories!

9 comments:

  1. My brother ran the Portland marathon- his first- and ran it in about 4:46- amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yay, glad to see other Portland Marathoners on here. Congrats to all! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the nod, Katie! And congrats to everyone on all these wonderful accomplishments!

    ReplyDelete
  4. WTG everyone you all did such a great job!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congrats everyone!

    Desiree's had me cracking up. That is an awesome picture...I'd make it my profile pic for everything. Great job!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jen! LOL Yes, I definitely will be. My hubby photoshopped that pic in a Grand Theft Auto game picture so he's having a lot of fun with the pic! LOL

      Delete
  6. Wonderful, ladies! I love these posts. It's a great way to start the week.

    Please keep doing Motivational Mondays. They truly are motivational.

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive