Sunday, November 07, 2010

We have come full circle


5 years ago, Sarah and I began training for the Newport Marathon. I was addicted to Sarah's blog and was attempting to start a blog of my own. We decided to start a blog together called Marathon Mommies (sound familiar?) to keep track of our training and to talk to one another. It was Sarah's first marathon, and I was trying to avenge my first marathon that I was not happy with! Within a few months, we had a couple of readers. Chelle and Cherl. Chelle found us by chance and we could tell right away that we were all "sole" sisters and agreed to have other contributors. I "met" Cherl through Coolrunning.com discussion boards when we discovered we had the exact same first marathon time of 5:11. We were both working on marathon #2. We both were able to get a PR (Hers was a 4:30 I believe and mine ended up being a 4:38.) Chelle and Sarah met up that summer in Utah and found out they had much more in common than just running! Cherl, Sarah and I finally met in person that summer at a half marathon in Portland. We kept in touch through the blog. Then, Cherl, Sarah and I ended up having babies the next year within a few weeks of each other. Sarah and I continued to run a few marathons together, meeting up with other Marathon Mommies along the way and Cherl wisely took a break from the marathon distance but continued running. :-)

At the beginning of this year when Cherl said she was looking to run another marathon I suggested St George. We both got in to St George and began "virtually" training together. We emailed at least once a week to talk about our training. We both had high hopes of getting PR's and maybe qualifying for Boston. It was fun to hope and dream together and also talk about some of our tougher runs. It also helped that I had been at the Ogden Marathon when Chelle had her amazing Boston Qualifying race! I was hoping her speedy vibes would pass onto me and Cherl and I couldn't wait to see how St George went for both of us. We both seemed to have fantastic training and were feeling very strong. We met up at the convention center,
but did not actually meet up during the race. I was affected by the heat and did not have the race I had envisioned. (I may write up a longer report later.) I texted Cherl to find out how her race had gone and unfortunately she also was disappointed by the result, although she DID get a PR. It would have been much more enjoyable had we both had the race of our dreams, but that is not what always happens. You better believe I will be rooting for her to crush her PR at the Carlsbad Marathon in January (she upgraded from a half marathon entry immediately after St George so she has a second chance to get a better time at her own weather and elevation!). As for me, I have been a little busy...

moving next door to Sarah! She and I really do live next door to each other as of this month! Now we can meet on the sidewalk between our houses and head out for a run. I feel very lucky! We have had so many running adventures over the last 5 years and I can't wait to have many more! What will our next race together be? You will have to tune in to find out...

Thanks for all your support of Marathon Mommies! We love hearing from each of you! Please continue to contribute your running stories and questions!

11 comments:

Suzie Petunia said...

I have the best next door neighbor! We have been through so much together. When you train and race with someone you REALLY get to know them. And the more I know Kelly, the more I like her! I can't wait to train for and run another marathon with you, Kelly. Soon, but not too soon. :) I'm working my way back.

Jamie said...

Wow, what an amazing story!

Jenn said...

Neat story! Thanks for sharing! I met a friend through my blog and our plan was to meet and run the TCM together. Unfortunately, I was injured and could only run little segments but she's turned out to be one of my closest friends! Good luck with the future adventures!

Tryna said...

Looking forward to hearing about your next adventure.

Juli said...

That is an awesome story. How inspiring to go from 5:11 to possibly Boston qualifying! It gives this 4:30 marathoner hope. . .

dannie chOOng said...

love your story, keep blogging so i can keep reading from here in Malaysia !!! :)

Sarai said...

Aaawww! That is neat. I'm happy you guys have each other to run with. How do you find good running buddies? I want want!

Anonymous said...
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JP said...

I love you all...just thought I'd put that out there. :)

arteryx jackets said...

great story..very nice post..keep it up!

It's ok to be average! said...

What a great story! I too am a mom, and training for my first half marathon. The race is scheduled for January 30th, but I just broke my toe (not displaced, but break went all the way through). I came across your blog when it linked me to a post someone did back in April of 2009 about a similar injury. I'm curious if that contributor ever ended up running their half. It's just hard to imagine throwing away 22 weeks of training when I'm this close to the finish line.