Just Plodding Along

...until the Albany marathon. Whaaatttt. I am so excited. I thought I would be more nervous. Maybe that will come later....and I always get a bit nervous the morning of. I think the fact that I have seen a lot of progress this training cycle in my speed and strength gives me confidence that I can go out there and run strong. Goals: A Goal: Finish time of 4:20 or less. Just to put that in perspective that will be almost a 25 minute PR from my last marathon. This goal is ambitious and I feel ready to run hard and give it my best. B Goal: Under 4:44. That would still be a PR so still exciting. C Goal: Just to finish. The marathon distance is hard for me. I never quite know how it is going to go. 26 miles is a long time to stay focused and execute a race plan. I feel every time I cross the finish at the marathon it is a big achievement. It is funny the last few marathons I have run I have really enjoyed the training cycle. I feel like I have gotten stronger and become a bit faster...

        Okay people the Albany marathon is this week! Who is excited and nervous? This girl. Training for this marathon has gone extremely well. A big part of that is due to me having an awesome coach. I thought you all would like to meet him and learn more about him. World meet my coach Buddy!     Have you always been a runner? How did you start running? What are your favorite distances? Any must have running gear? What is your favorite post run snack? I have not always been a runner. I thought running was boring and senseless. In high school I quit playing baseball because I had no desire to run 3 miles a day. Since, as a 15 year old I knew everything, I knew for sure the furthest I needed to run in baseball was 90 feet. Maybe 180 if I wanted to leg out a double. Either distance far short of 3 miles. So I decided to focus on playing drums in rock bands and drinking. As it turns out, running wasn't senseless….I was. Some would argue that I ...

Up next the amazingly brave Good Girl Gone Trail team member Corrie! She hasn't met the majority of us but is game for spending 30+ hours in a van and running through the Smoky Mountains with us at the Smoky Mountain Relay. We love her already! Well hey there! I first want to say I am so excited to be a part of this and I can't wait to meet everyone! Anywho, I have been a runner since middle school . It began as a fun social thing to do with all my friends but the more I did it the more I was addicted! I played sports all through high school so I did less running and more team practices. however, when I graduated high school I reminded myself of Forest Gump because I didn't know what to do so I just ran! I entered every local race I could and ended up running my first Half marathon with my sister in 2008.  I then ran my first Marathon in 2009, I definitely recommend running the Marine Corps Marathon in DC. It is a absolute beautiful course running past all t...

I highly recommend you find a running/ travel partner like my friend Nicole because the fun factor is increased by like 1000%! Now we have run together and hung out together before but when driving to Birmingham in the middle of a conversation  I yelled out winery at the next left and she proceeded to turn left, no questions asked....well that is when I knew that we are best friends for life. The Mercedes marathon in in Birmingham which is about three hours away with a wine detour. Since we had nothing to do but pick-up race numbers and eat, a quick stop at a winery was a great way to kill time. If you find yourself in Harpersville Alabama stop by Morgan Creek Vineyards.  Once we got to Birmingham we decided to avoid getting hangry by stopping for lunch at the Red Pearl before hitting the expo. Delicious and connected to a super fun oriental market to explore and buy new and exciting stuff to try. Thanks to Yo Momma for all the great restaurant recommendations! After st...

Ugh the last two weeks I have lacked motivation. I got some miles in yes but less than I have been. Part of this is due to tapering. The Albany marathon is coming up. The hard work is pretty much in the bag. Time to rest and recover and be ready to fly on race day (okay my version of fly). But more than less miles on the schedule I have just not been that interested in running. I am less rainbows and butterflies and yay running and more like hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh guess I better run. I don't know if it has been the cold and rain and dark that have in part prevented me from running (because sometimes I like to pretend I don't have a treadmill and therefore can not run if the weather is bad...don't judge me) and made running less than enjoyable or if it is just burn out from training hard but I have pretty much given running the bird for the last two weeks. But today that changed, perfect running weather and sunshine and 10 miles later it all seemed a little bit better. Plus Sunda...

More Smoky Mountain Relay awesomeness here- Good Girl Gone Trail member Mary! Mary Smith, 25 years old BA English (University of Georgia), MA Theological Studies (Beeson Divinity School Samford University) English Instructor in Chattanooga, TN In high school, a ran a semester each of track and cross country in order to appease my parents. I did not particularly enjoy running at the time, however, and did not continue running with my high school team after my sophomore year. It wasn’t until I graduated from UGA that I began to run consistently on my own. I had just graduated, was looking for a job, and simply needed something to fill my time. So I loaded up my iPod with a running playlist and started running around the park across the street from my apartment complex. Over the next couple months I kept running . . . running farther, running faster, running hills, running at night, running in the rain. Every time I went out, I asked, Can I go a quarter mile farthe...

Meet Kelcey another wonderful member of Good Girls Gone Trail! For me, running has always been an extremely personal thing.  It has always been something I have done for myself and by myself.  I started running 4 years ago.  I saw some pictures of my cousins running the Marine Corps Marathon and thought, “I think I’d like to do that.”  And I did.  Completely on my own, I trained for 11 months and ran the Pensacola Marathon in 2010.  I believe I got into kind of a rut after that because I’ve only run one race since then.  Though I continued running regularly, it was not for any sort of training purpose.  It was for fun and general fitness. In the last few months, however, my running life has completely changed.  I got a job at a local running store and suddenly I was surrounded by amazing runners from all walks of life.  I found what I needed to get out of my rut—inspiration.  And there has been more than enough to g...

We interrupt the constant chatter about running to talk about Army life! Yesterday D graduated from Infantry Officer Basic Leadership Course or IBOLC. Yayyyyyy D! It was pretty exciting. And not only because I actually got out of workout clothes. I also got to see some of my favorite people and I am super proud of D and all that he has accomplished! One of my favs! Amanda, who has become a total run nerd with me and I could not be happier about that! Look at this handsome guy in uniform! Not sure why I refused to take of my jacket but red coat for the win. More of my favorite ladies! Before the actual graduation ceremony there is the blue cord ceremony. Infantry soldiers wear a blue cord on their dress uniform and I got to put D's on his. So fancy. Then the wives who participated in the Earn Your Blue program (walk or run 56 miles during the guys time in IBOLC which is the same amount of mileage they do in total of ruck marches) had their own little ceremony ...

Meet Patrice, another fantastic member of our Good Girls Gone Trail Team tackling the Smoky Mountain Relay! And she would like everyone to know her birthday is on February 23rd in case you all want to give her a shout out or send some gifts her way;).  I’m originally from Stockton, CA, I now reside in the Fort Benning, GA area. My husband and I decided to put roots down here after serving 6 and ½ years in the U.S. Army we fell in love with our church and the Fort Benning surrounding areas and decided to raise our family here. We have 1 daughter  and 1 son. I have always been an active person. The physical aspect of the Army was a true joy for me. Running was always a casual sport for me, never going over 3 miles. Yet, within the last 18 months I have caught the running fever! I have ran distances that I never would have imagined. I have ran 1 half marathon and currently training for my first full marathon. Running has brought such a joy and chal...

Taking a short break from the overload of awesomeness that is the profiles of the team Good Girls Gone Trail to share my deep dark secret..... ....I excel at sweating. Okay that isn't very much of a secret.  Paul over at Suddora Sweatbands  emailed me after he noticed my chronic sweaty situation to ask if I would be interested in trying out his sweatbands. Being willing to try anything that will help with the sweating produced by all this running I of course said yes. He was nice enough to send my two favorite colors. I was skeptical when they first arrived I was a bit skeptical as they reminded me of a rockin 80s workout video at first glance. But when I put them on they are kind of like pure magic. They are soft, work well and wash up well. The wash part is particularly important as they do a superb job at absorbing sweat. I wore the headband and the wrist bands on my 22 mile sweat fest where I overdressed and sweated through a shirt and a jacket. The sweatb...