Lizzie 1 (Subbing for Kedrick) - My Running Journey

Hi guys! My name is Lizzie. If we haven’t met, you probably know me best from my handsome husband Kedrick, who mentions me in his blog from time to time. He is supposed to be writing this blog post today but “he just doesn’t want to write”. I have told him in the past that if he ever has a day he doesn’t want to blog, I am happy to sub in from time to time. So here we are!!! Welcome and nice to meet you/see you again!

 

Today, I will be writing about my running journey. I am currently training for a sub one hour 10k that I plan to run on Friday (4th of July). After that, I am start training for a sub 2 hour half marathon . Yes, this is the same race Quentin previously mentioned in his training plan blog post. Now that we know where I am going, let’s take a look back at how I got here. 

 

I started running my freshmen year of college as a way to lose weight. I started doing the popular “Couch to 5k” training plan and immediately fell in love with running. I love that it’s a time that you can be in nature, sit (or I guess run) with your thoughts, and kinda just zone out. It's also a great time to catch up with a friend IF you can convince a friend that lives in the same city as you to train for the same race. I also prefer to run in the morning so it’s a great way for me to set aside time for myself prior to my day starting. I lost about 50 lbs when I started running and have continued to love running more and more over the past 12 years, as well as use it as a way to stay in semi-average shape. 

 

After completing the couch to 5k plan, I continued to run on a semi-regular basis (probably 5-10 miles per week) for about a year. I then decided I wanted to complete a half marathon so I signed up for the 2015 Mercedes Benz Half Marathon in 2015. As part of that half marathon training plan, I also did the Birmingham Ronald McDonald 10 miler in early January 2015. This was the coldest race I have ever done - I am pretty sure the windchill was 10°. If you are wondering why I am doing all of these races in Birmingham, AL, I went to school at Auburn (wargle) so that was the closest-ish large city where I could typically convince one of my friends to run a race with me since a lot of my friends were from Birmingham. 

 

Me and Ronald post 10 miler with my friend Connor. 

 

My parents were the cutest and most supportive cheerleaders!

 My time for the MBHM was 2:02:22 - so close to being sub 2 hours. After this race, I continued to run on a regular basis and do a few shorter distance races. 

 

I ran a half in Columbus, GA in the fall of 2015 and this was the day that I learned that sometimes race days just don’t go as planned, regardless of training. I accidentally peed myself during the race. With humidity, it was almost 80 degrees and just all around yucky. 

 

We were trying to take a funny pic of us post race but I got the WORST Charley horse due to dehydration.

 

In 2016, I ran the Peachtree Road Race for the first time. The PRR has become one of my favorite Atlanta events. It takes you through multiple neighborhoods on the famous Peachtree Road. It’s always insanely hot but SUCH a fun time. I have done this race 8 (I think!) times now.

 

My first PRR in 2016.

 

My second PRR in 2018. Sarah thought she was going to die this day pre-race but then also fell in love with the PRR. This became a FoJ tradition for us until my handsome husband entered the picture with his Grandma's MN lake cabin family gathering tradition. 

In 2018, I ran 3 half marathons. The first was advertised as a “downhill” half marathon. I ran this race with a coworker who signed up with another coworker who had to bail so I was taking her bib off her hands. I quickly learned that downhill does not equate to easy. While it might seem easier to run downhill, this half was essentially running down a mountain (on a nice paved road) in North Georgia. My quads have never hurt like that before and I hope they never hurt like that again. 

Me and Charne with the prettiest start line view, pre our quads screaming at us. 

Later that year, I ran the Savannah, GA Rock n Roll half marathon. We had perfect weather, I had trained really well for this race and was ready to go! I had convinced two other friends to run this race with me. On race morning, we woke up and did everything perfectly. We arrived to the start line about an hour before the race start just so we could go ahead and get settled - very normal things. We went to sit in a Kroger because it was a chilly morning. We started noticing closer and closer to the start that there weren’t a ton of runners around us. This was the day that it's really important to make sure that the race start and finish location are actually the same. We were at the finish line which was about a mile and a half from the start and we had about 15 minutes until our coral started. So really we ran a 14.5 mile race that day! I ran the Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon a few weeks after this race and learned just how hilly the city of Atlanta is. 

Post Savannah half marathon, aka 14.5 miler!

 I continued to do some Peachtrees and smaller races but took a few years off from running legit races until 2022. This is when I did the Nashville Rock n Roll with some friends. I didn’t really train super hard for this race - just doing long runs on Saturdays and had started to develop some hip pain. I wasn’t super pumped about this race but was doing it with friends so was there for the vibes. The days leading up to the race, I started to feel like maybe I was getting sick? I was also taking ibuprofen for my hip pain which I didn’t realize was also hiding some illness related symptoms. I completed the half and truly felt like I had been hit by a bus. The race day was hotter than normal for an April day in Nashville but it turns out I had some sort of viral infection. After this race, I was pretty sure I was ready to take a running hiatus. 

Me post race with Payton and Julie Anne. We were all regretting our life choices that got us to this point.

Later in 2022, my best friend thought it would be so fun for her and I to run a half marathon together. She knew I didn’t have a ton of running years left in me (I joked that I was retired from running) so wanted to check this off of our friendship bucket list. One thing to know about me - I am the easiest person to peer pressure to do almost anything. So once she asked, I was signed up for the 2023 Seaside Half Marathon. We ran long runs on the weekend together for training but I rarely completed any midweek running training (I had joined a HIIT class gym that I loved and didn't want to skip classes I was paying for to run for free #accountant). This continued to aggravate my hip, as my glute muscles had weakened over time and didn’t realize it. I was taking a lot of ibuprofen throughout this training cycle which would then upset my tummy for the rest of my long run days. It was not a fun training cycle but we had a great time running this race together and I am so thankful for the memories we have from this! 

 

Me and Sarah after having so much fun but I was also in lots of hip pain :)

 

Once I completed this race, I started doing PT because I truly felt like I had the hips of a 75 year old. Through PT and focusing more on strength training paired with running, I am now able to run with very minimal hip issues which I am so thankful for! I have run a few Peachtrees over the past couple of years but haven’t done any longer distance races. 

 

Me in Jan 2025 after completing the Polar Opposite Peachtree Road Race. They reversed the July 4 course for the race on January 4 - super fun!

 

In the spring of this year, I was facing a big life milestone - my 30th birthday. With this milestone, I wanted to challenge myself to do things that I have wanted to do in the past but thought were too unrealistic or hard. Enter my sub-2 hour half marathon goal. While I can do some decent distance with appropriate training, I have NEVER been a fast runner. At my fastest time (college), I was running in the 9:00/mile zones on my good days. I figured this goal was only going to get harder to reach as I get older so might as well start now! 

 

My training cycle will consist of 4-5 running days per week. I am currently using a Garmin watch with an integrated training plan to reach this goal. I am using the sub hour 10k as a test to see if their training is sufficient for helping me reach my goals. 

 

I don’t share all of this to brag (even though it sounds like it - which, sorry about that) but to maybe encourage the one person who made it to the end of this blog. Hey, you! I am in no way a running expert or athlete. I am a full time restaurant financial educator who only played one sport growing up - basketball in 2nd grade (I quit because my older sister was so much better than me [she is now 6 feet tall so she had a slight height advantage over every other girl on the court, including me]). I am going to have to work VERY hard to reach this running goal and there is still a very real chance that I will fail. BUT at least I will be able to say that I gave it my best shot and maybe it just isn’t meant to be! I am the queen of lacking self confidence (my dear husband reminds me this regularly, in the most loving and supportive way) but I am dedicating this year to reaching a goal that I have thought about for over 10 years. If you have a goal you’ve been scared to accomplish, leave it in the comments. I’d love to be an accountability partner on this journey with you!