Aesthete Runner

A few days have passed since the marathon and I finally am able to put words to my experience. And what an experience it was! I finally ran a marathon and wasn't instantly filled with regrets and wishes of what could have been. Did I meet all my goals? Nope. Am I upset about it? Nope. Read on for my full recap.

I survived peak week! While there are still many more weeks of hard training, it feels good to put my biggest mileage week behind me and finish my first 20 miler of the training plan. One of the coaches notes this week was  Repeat after me: "I can do it. I will do it. I can do it. I will do it. I can do it. I will do it." Say it rhythmically and often. I sure did say this often and this was definitely a week of doing hard things and succeeding.

And just like that, it's almost time to train for the Chicago Marathon again! One of the perks to doing a spring race is that I already have a great base under my belt so I feel as if this might be the most prepared I have ever been going into marathon training.

Today's special post is in honor of Global Running Day. While it may seem like just about every day is a running day for me, there is something to be said about a day to celebrate the sport together.

On Saturday I completed the F^3 Lake Half Marathon and have finally thawed out! In all seriousness, I really enjoyed the race and while cold, the weather was tolerable. For those wanting the quick story, I did not PR but had one of my most consistently paced races to date. Read on for the full details of race day.

The F^3 Lake Half Marathon is just 6 days away. While the weather for Saturday is going to be drastically different from the 58 degrees I enjoyed this past week, I am feeling ready. This taper hasn't "tapered" as much as others right before a race, but I am looking forward to a lighter few days leading up to Saturday.

This week should just be called perfectly imperfect, as nothing about it went according to plan. In hindsight, using my extra week last week to repeat week 14 would have been better used this week. Rather than pretending everything went according to plan, I embraced the fact that I made week 15 my own.

What broken elbow? Everyone has their reasons for running, and I have found that it is much easier to commit to training and running a distance race when you have something motivating you. The first time I ran a half marathon, I did it for me as a personal goal. Naturally I race against myself every time I enter a race. I want to beat my previous time on that course and achieve a personal best. Sometimes motivation might be finishing a race after injury. I ran my slowest half marathon just 2 and a half months after breaking my elbow, yet I felt amazing because I was able to finish. For me, running for charity is one of the best ways I can give back to a sport that has given a lot to me. I will never win a race or have the fastest time and I am okay with that. Instead, I choose to run to raise money and awareness for causes that are important to me. When I look back at my first half marathon, I was most inspired by those running for something bigger than themselves. I remember run...