I started running back in '06 after having done a lot of walking. A friend noticed I'd got myself in better shape and instead of congratulating me, he asks this; "So when's your first race?" I was somewhat taken aback but pondered the question over the next couple of days. Having heard the adage that the difference between a jogger and a runner is the entry fee, I started looking online for something that would work. Being sort of an all or nothing kind of person, I looked at some marathons (26.2 miles). Hey if you're going to go, go big I say. A couple of weeks later, I mentioned my hair-brained idea to a couple of other friends. After reporting the miles I was already running, they said, "Oh yeah, you could do it!" So, I found some training schedules, slipped right into week 4 of one I'd selected and started training in earnest.
On
Mar. 31, 2008, I ran the Olathe Marathon. It was freezing cold and
there was a headwind about the whole way, but I did it in 4:25 which put me
in the top 1/2 of all the women and 9th in my age group! I had friends
and family shadowing me the whole way around the course, yelling
encouragement, taking layers as I shed them and even hot-shotting me when it
looked like I needed a different sort of 'encouragement'! Hey, with friends like these....
;-) I still have one of my two jackets on at this point. My hot-shotting
friends had acquired a Team ZIP ~ Running Powered by BEEF! shirt for me but
I was still cold. No BEEF shirt is
showing yet!
At about mile 20, I'd finally shed my last jacket. Figured at some point the Beef jersey needed to be on display! A friend cracked that I looked like Marathon Barbie, smiling away. I told her she'd mistaken the look of delirium for a smile. Now you know where they get the phrase, "grinning like and idiot."
The back looks even better with the famous "Beef, it's what's for dinner!" slogan and a grilling steak. FYI, I did enjoy some beef BBQ right after the event. High quality protein is essential for muscle recovery and repair, which the body starts right away. So a delicious beef meal was definitely just what the doctor ordered. What a great way to recover! By the way, I had a different slogan in mind for the back of the shirt. But you'll have to call me for that story.
I enjoyed it so much and wanted to keep the motivation up so I entered another race (the Boilermaker 15k or 9.3 miles) in July 2008 as part of Team ZIP. That's Zinc, Iron and Protein. Beef is an excellent, nutrient dense source of these essential components of a healthy diet (and a lot more too!) wrapped up in a very delicious package!
Read more about my Boilermaker 15k when you click here.