2014 Year Recap (Runner Edition) Final Part 2

2014 running for me was great, but the best part was watching some of the great meets, including the Wisco Adidas Invite and the first time ever watching the Great Lakes Regionals.  Got to hang with the Hub of Distance Running Derek Rubis, he's an inspiration to the running community.  I got the greatest surprise ever and I didn't expect it, Mandy Perkins, the former Florida Gator who is working with Nike, got to hang with her while she was helping with flotrack covering the Adidas invite.  I was very happy and it made my day, thank you again Rubis, it was the best surprise I ever got.  Got to finally meet Chris Chavez, who was helping with Flotrack and works for my favorite tv show (SportsCenter).  Also met Gordon Mack, who also works for Flotrack, he was very awesome to chat with and told him I would love to someday work for Flotrack.  During the meet I got to meet a few awesome distance runners, first was Leah O Connor, Michigan State Spartan who won the steeple this last outdoor track season.  She was amazing and very sweet.  Their team had an amazing season, captured there first XC National Title and she got an All-American.  Also got meet Shelby Houlihan, the Arizona State 1500 meter National champion this last outdoor season who got All-American this last XC season.  Also met Reed Connor, who was part of the 2011 National Champion Badger team.  The Wisco Adidas invite was fun to watch and got to meet a lot of amazing people.  Got to watch an amazing Great Lakes Regional meet, very cold but was still worth it, got to meet the whole Michigan State Spartan team who won the Regional and said earlier that won there first National Title.  Got to hang with others as well, the Badger cheering section, the Badgers had an amazing where they finished runner up in the region and finished top 10 at Nationals as the men who had a very young squad won the BIG Ten title and brought back the Great Lakes Regional title plus finishing in the top 10 at Nationals.  Sarah Disanza, had an incredible year who finished runner up at Nationals as well as Malachy who won the BIG Ten's and All-American at Nationals.  Another successful year for the Badgers.  2014 was fun watching meets this year, hope to go to more meets in 2015 and meet more of my distance running faves. 







 

               

2014 Year Recap (Runner Edition) Part 1

Well 2014 is definitely a year to remember, I graduated from an amazing University (UW-Platteville), walked on in the Spring and finish my internship this past Summer, and was able to run my last indoor and outdoor seasons with my fellow Pioneer Track & Field teammates.  One of my breakout races for my last season of track was definitely the 10k- Outdoor, I knew coming in I wanted to hit a lifetime PR, it was an unbelievable race, I felt really good, ended up running 33:21, dropping a little over 2 minutes, the iron helped me significantly and the training paid off.  I am sure going to miss competing on track and being with my awesome teammates, they mean so much to me. My biggest race of the year was my first Half-Marathon this last November, where I was very close of hitting my goal, that was to break 80 minutes, ended up with 1:21.49 despite of the chilly conditions, placed 14th overall in the Madison Half Marathon, overall very pleased and happy with the result.  My goal for 2015 for my Half-Marathon is to break 80 minutes and that I'm capable of reaching.  Hit big miles this winter and do some good strength work in order for that to happen.  Yes 2014 was a very good year for running, 2015 will be even better, as you are trying to achieve your goals, always go after greatness.  

Half-Marathon Recap

My first Half-Marathon race finally came and was looking froward to it.  It was a cold and chilly Sunday November 9th.  Had a little nerves coming in but once I got to the State Capital I felt confident and in race mindset.  Got to the start line and was ready to go, was feeling good for the first couple of miles, feeling very confident early on and was able to stay in control.  First half of the race I was averaging low 6 minute pace and feeling I have a great chance to break 80 minutes which was my goal.  Once I got to the last half of the race, it got tougher, getting up the hills got to me along with the windy conditions.  But for the most part I was able to stay relax and be able to get through it.  When I saw the finish line I was kicking hard and grinding.  When I crossed the finish line, I got to finish my first Half-Marathon.  Ended up with a time of 1:21.49, not too far off from my goal.  Was 14th overall, goal was to be top 15, so I accomplish that along with finishing the race.  Definitely room for improvement, now is taking some time off and getting ready for my next Half-Marathon in Spring.  Possibly to do some winter races before that. Greatness Awaits.  Want to thank my former UW-Platteville teammates that were there cheering me on and my mom being there as well for support.  Have a great supporting cast.