Race History

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Personal Records
5K - 27:35
10K - 1:04:46
Half marathon - 2:16:01
Marathon - 5:42:37


2010
February 20 - Owls Making Strides 5K - ~34:00 (first race ever!)
March 21 - ING Georgia Half Marathon - 2:18:34
May 1 - Big Peach 5K - 29:59
October 2 - Marble Festival 5K - 27:35 PR

2011
January 22 - Polar Bear Run 5K - 30:53
March 20 - Publix Georgia Half Marathon - 2:16:01 PR

2012
April 7 - The Color Run 5K - untimed
April 21 - Sweetwater 420 Fest 5K - 32:58
May 19 - Brookhaven Bolt 5K - 30:58
July 4 - AJC Peachtree Road Race 10K - 1:08:26
October 6 - Firefly Run 5K - 32:52
October 27 - Silver Comet Half Marathon - 2:28:42

2013
February 2 - Tartan Trot 10K - 1:04:46 PR
March 17 - Publix Georgia Marathon - 5:42:37
June 1 - Possum Trot 10K - 1:07:08
July 4 - AJC Peachtree Road Race 10K - 1:10:17 (supported Christina at her first race!)
August 17 - Area 13.1 Half Marathon - 2:42:34 (Christina's first half)

2014
April 12 - Run Like Hell 5K - 31:49
May 10 - Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K - 39:37 (Daddy's first race!)
July 4 - AJC Peachtree Road Race 10K - 1:13:59

2015
February 8 - Tartan Trot 10K - 1:10:11, 4th place age group 25-29
February 21 - Atlanta Mission Race to End Homelessness 5K
March 28 - Berry Half Marathon
April 25 - Viva La Margarita 5K
July 4 - AJC Peachtree Road Race


Race Report: Firefly Run 5K 2012

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Last night was Atlanta's turn to host the Firefly Run. It is a nighttime 5K, so you receive light-up LED bands to wear while running and are encouraged to wear any other light-up or glow-in-the-dark accessories. I registered for this race shortly after the Peachtree back in July, so it's been on my calendar for a while. I thought it would be a nice change of pace to race outdoors on an October evening, and the starting line was near Piedmont Park, which is one of my favorite parts of Atlanta.

Heather, Kara, and Kara's fiance Adam all signed up too, so we met up to carpool together. We parked in a deck at the park and walked over to the staging area. After standing in line to get our bibs, t-shirts, and LED bands, we took a few pictures...

Kara, Heather, and me ready to go!
Then we headed to the starting line. It was just around the corner, down the sidewalk outside the park, and no announcement was made directing people to head to the start in X number of minutes or anything, so a lot of folks were strolling towards the start without any real sense of urgency. This ticked off the announcer at the starting line, who began making remarks such as, "To all of you just sauntering to the start, please pick up your feet. Some of us would like to get started." Definitely could have done without the sarcasm!
Once we finally made it, we waited for five minutes or so and then the gun went off. This was my first race with my new Garmin, so I was pretty excited about being able to keep an eye on my pace and time.
I crossed the starting line at 8:05 PM. Of course there was a huge crush of people at the beginning, and it took a while for the walkers to move towards the right and let the runners pass on the left. The course also began with a series of rolling hills which slowed a lot of people down immediately. We ran out of the park down 10th Street, passed Blake's and The Flying Biscuit, and turned into Midtown, passing Shout. I finished Mile 1 in 11:20... not the greatest.
We then ran through some pretty dark residential areas. I was feeling strong and definitely thankful for the cool night air. We passed a house all decked out for Halloween with orange lights, spiderwebs, and gravestones -- it reminded me of what my parents used to do when I was a kid. There was also an area set up where a DJ had strung colored lights among some trees and was playing Katy Perry music. He had a sign that said "On site entertainment" so I'm assuming he was hired by the race. I hit mile 2 in 10:21.
Almost immediately after beginning the second mile, we approached a hill much bigger than the so-called Cardiac Hill along the Peachtree course. I was determined not to let it affect my pace too much, so I pushed myself and made sure to control my breathing, which is what usually saps my energy. Heather said she saw a woman throwing up right around that area when she came through, so apparently it was pretty challenging haha.
The remainder of the course was fairly flat. We ran into the park, back out, and back in again. I looked at my watch, saw I was at 2.81 miles, and decided to give it everything I had. It's a really good feeling to have some energy left at the end and finish strong. My pace for the third mile was 9:48, with the pace for the remaining 1/10 mile 8:05. :)
Overall, my Garmin said 33:01 for my finish time, and my official chip time was 32:52, which is a 10:35 pace. I am still struggling to return to my 10:00 pace, but each run recently has decreased by 5-10 seconds, so I'm getting there.

Now, back to the show.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

It's definitely been a long time since I've posted here. Since my friend Kayla over at A Lovely Nest encouraged me to post, I thought I'd give it a shot. Looking back on my past entries, I feel pretty guilty about how motivated I was about running in the past and how honestly lazy I have been recently. While we're being honest, I have not made any long-term changes to my eating or exercise habits like I so naively and enthuastically aspired to last year.


Meanwhile, I will be running the 2012 Peachtree Road Race next week, on July 4. It will be my first 10K and I am nervous for a variety of reasons. My longest training run thus far has been a little more than 5 miles. I probably could get out and push myself to do 6, but I've been struggling with the negative self-talk that has haunted me in the past.

I'm also (unreasonably?) concerned about running in the heat. I have been trying to get out there and train around the same time of day that the race will begin, but my regular route is mostly shaded and I strongly doubt I will experience any shade on race day. What I should do is drag my butt out to a park somewhere. I really miss living closer to Swift-Cantrell Park in Kennesaw.

Finally, I have been debating over getting new shoes for a few weeks, but it's not in my budget right now. I hope that my starting-to-get-tired Asics will hold up!

Enough complaining. I need to affirm myself more and not be so critical. It is a little disheartening to realize I am still struggling with the same issues I had in the past, but it's not as if I am out of time to change my habits and attitude. I hope that I will be able to celebrate my accomplishment next week and view it as just one stop along a continued journey.

No turning back now

Sunday, January 23, 2011


I just filled out the online registration and am all set to run the Publix Georgia half. My parents generously paid the registration fee as an early birthday gift (thanks, Mom and Dad!). I will admit that I felt nervous clicking the submit button. This past week was rough for me... I strongly dislike running outside in the cold, and I have been letting negative thoughts have way too much control. Yesterday, Jess and I ran the 2011 Polar Bear 5K, and it was more difficult than I anticipated, which only added to my self-doubt. I overestimated how cold I would be, and halfway through the route I was dying to strip off my jacket, but wasn't able to. I ended up posting a time that was my worst 5K since before the half last year.

However, there are still almost two months until race day, and I am not going to let myself be my own worst enemy. I'm going to work at changing the critical voices in my head to ones that empower me to push harder. After all, if I've run this race once, there's no reason that I can't do it again and with more confidence.

New shoes

Monday, January 17, 2011

Yesterday was my longest run of the year thus far -- five miles. I felt proud of myself for pushing my body when I wanted to give up (what you do mean it's only been two miles?!), but the satisfaction was short-lived. During my cool down, I almost immediately noticed a pain that felt like blisters on both feet at the base of my toes. I figured once I took my shoes off and took a shower that it would go away, but my feet continued to ache for the rest of the evening. Even now, writing this, they're a little sore.

Now, I know that I'm not supposed to wear cotton socks when I run, and that they can definitely cause blisters from trapping moisture. I have always used them anyway and have never had issues with blisters or rubbing of any kind, which led me to believe that it was time to get a new pair of shoes. Last year, when I bought my most recent (and only) pair at Big Peach, the employee who helped me suggested that I write the date of purchase underneath the sock liner. When I peeled it up to read it today, it said January 23, 2010. I know I've easily put 150-200 miles on those shoes, which is just the recommended time to put a new pair into rotation.


So, I drove over to BPRC Kennesaw and bought a pair of Asics Gel Cumulus 12s. I'm in love with them already, and can't wait to try them out tomorrow. 3.5 miles seems like the perfect distance.

You rarely regret the runs you do; you almost always regret the ones you skip.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

That is the quote that I had been thinking of earlier (thanks, Jess!). It certainly came to mind today.


I mentioned that I haven't been able to run all week, but today everything finally started to thaw. I spent the morning doing some much needed laundry and cleaning while waiting for the temperature to rise a little, and then headed out to run. On a whim, I stopped at the fitness center to see if the treadmills had been repaired. Turns out they have been. I don't know how long they've been working, but now I feel like kicking myself for not checking sooner.

Since I was already at the gym, I decided to do today's run on the treadmill. I thought it would be a piece of cake, but I was wrong. Apparently I am not at all used to running at a consistently challenging pace anymore. I have always found it difficult to maintain a steady pace when running outside, and I think that being able to manually control my speed when training (mostly) on the treadmill last year helped build my endurance more quickly.

That being said, I think I'm going to switch at least half my short runs to the treadmill (at a 1% incline), at least for now. I definitely had a moment near the end of my run today when I doubted that I would be prepared in time for the half. It was a reality check, but also overdramatic. I'm looking forward to putting in some hard work and hopefully getting a PR at the 5K next week.

Snowpocalypse 2011

Thursday, January 13, 2011

That's the trendy name that Georgians have given this snow/ice storm. It began snowing late Sunday night, and now, late Thursday night, the ground is still covered with ice-crusted snow. Schools have been closed all week, which would normally give me more freedom to schedule my runs... but the sidewalks are still incredibly icy, and all the treadmills in the gym at my complex are out of order. Really? I feel like such a slacker.

I managed to get a 3.5 mile run in early Saturday morning, but that's been it for the week. Hopefully everything starts to thaw this weekend.