Friday, April 24, 2009

We made it!!! 13.1 miles!!!!!

So this post is a few weeks late, but Andrew and I accomplished a HUGE goal on April 6th! We finished the Olathe Half Marathon near Kansas City! We don't know of "official" times, as we arrived a few minutes late, and the chips didn't work at the starting line...UGH!... but, we are pretty sure our times were:


Andrew 1:56
Cassie 2:05

We really just had a goal to finish, but we were happy with our times.

Here we are after the run. (thanks for the pictures Jen!)

Here is us with the "happy" family. Cooper has been so cute through our training, and even ran 2 miles with us a few times! He always asks, "How was your run?".  And, "how far'd you run today?" Cutie. Kudos to the boys for spending countless hours in the mother's room at the gym. It is nice cause it is a cardio room divided by a see-through half-wall, so I can watch them. And has a big screen tv and toys. They (and I) have actually made some good friends at the gym! It helps that it is only a mile from our house too.

Here is my running partner, Jen Belardo. She is AMAZING! And I am SO GRATEFUL to have had her to do my "long runs" on Saturdays with. We stuck together the whole race too. She even took a fall at about mile 7, and it didn't even slow her down! We nick-named her "Lacey" cause she tripped on her laces. Really, I would not have been able to do it without a partner, and I couldn't have asked for a better one! Jen is my pace-setter, and has become a really great friend too. 

More details...

I started running in September, when Beckett was about 4 months old. We had just moved here, I had bought new shoes, and was really wanting to get rid of my baby weight! (Which was more than I'd ever gained!) So I started going to the gym. It was hard to be super consistent because I didn't have a plan or goals. Plus, I'd die just going 2.5 miles... and I didn't have motivation to go further or push myself. I decided to look around for a race. I'd never done one before, but knew I could do it if I had enough time to train, a good partner, a training schedule, and especially if I could get Andrew on board too! Reluctantly, Andrew said YES! I don't think either of us had run farther than 5.5 miles (except in a soccer game). But we committed, and we did it! 

Our 12-week training started Jan. 5. A perfect time to start... the new year. I asked some "experts", my sister-in-law, Brooke, and my cousin-in-law, Tiffany, for some tips. They were great to encourage me along the way. Everything was new to us... GU energy shots??? Water belts??? All of it was new to us. But, once we got into the routine, it was invigorating! It was so fun every Saturday to see your body do what you didn't think was possible. It was neat to see the transformation... and especially hear yourself say, "we only have to do 6 miles today". :)

We got a hotel in the city, and it was fun to take the kids to the pool the night before with Olive Garden take-out. Race morning, another dentist in the clinic, Mark, drove up to watch our kids at the hotel and bring them to the finish line. THANKS MARK! We were running a few minutes late, but then GOT LOST trying to find the race because of blocked off roads! Guess we should have done a run through the night before! Anyway, we started about 10 or so minutes late. The one nice thing was we were passing lots of people so we felt fast. :) AND, we even passed the pacer we wanted to stay with originally! The race was way easier than any training run, I'm sure because of the atmosphere and adrenaline. It was amazing to not even feel tired at all until mile 9. Then we tried to run mile 11-13 as fast as we could. It was so fun to see my family at the finish line, and it felt SO good to accomplish our goal!  

Some memories I never want to forget:
  • Andrew was so funny one night. He said, "So I noticed today that I can't feel my stomach jiggle anymore when I run!". :) He is amazing, and I can't believe he did it all without a partner! 
  • The amazing W.O.W. girls! (Women of Warrensburg Walking and Running Club). We meet every Saturday morning at 7am. They are so encouraging and such great friends. 
  • The furthest training run we did was 12.75 miles. We followed a training schedule for first time half marathon runners, and I only missed 1 run (out of 48) the whole time. Thanks for the tip Tiffany! I just kept hearing her advice when I would not want to go, "NEVER miss a run!". 
  • We kept a little better than a 10-minute pace in our training runs, and approx. a 9:54 pace in the race. 
  • Getting excited about new socks and a water belt! :) Feeling silly wearing it... like I should be an expert runner. :) 
  • Running 11 miles on a treadmill because we woke up to heavy snow that day.
  • Driving to Olathe March 27th to pick our our race packet, and having the race POSTPONED because of severe weather! We had to wait another WEEK! Even worse, we ran 9 miles on a treadmill that day and it was horrible mentally cause we should've been running the race! We took the kids to Monsters vs. Aliens that night instead.
  • Not being able to sleep on Friday nights cause I was nervous for the long runs. That wore off after the first few, but came back the night before the race. 
Overall, it was a really neat experience, and neat to have both accomplished that goal together. Andrew said he'd only do it once when we started, and he's already talking about running more. :) We may even do another race as soon as June! 
 




22 comments:

wurstens5 said...

Good Job!! That is such a great accomplishment. And even better to do it with your hubby. Welcome to the runners world, now your hooked and you'll be running more races than you have ever wanted.

Camara said...

This is such an awesome accomplishment. I would love to do this someday with Joe! Great job on all your hard work to not only finish, but with excellent times!

Sally said...

you're a machine! good for you young lady.

Jeppsen's said...

You inspire me GREAT JOB!!
It makes it a lot easier when you have someone to run with. Kuddos to the two of you

Shawn and Cami and Max and Annie said...

You look great!! keep up the good work!

Sarah said...

way to go- that is quite an accomplishment. I am just getting back into running after baby Claire and if feels SOOOOO good. TIme to get back into shape- now if I could just get my hubby to join me.

Kristel said...

GREAT JOB!!!
You look awesome! I was just wondering the other day if you ran your race yet...
Nothing better than running with your husband. Keep running...you've worked so hard to get to this point!

katie said...

Doesn't it feel good?! You look awesome-way to go!

510Jen said...

Great job Cassie. This is awesome. I am just starting to get back into exercising. I wish I loved to run. You look great what an accomplishment.

Johansen Family said...

You guys are awesome! Maybe one day I will join you for a race! :)

Tiff Gatten said...

I'm so proud of you! You did so good! Not to mention that you look really skinny....you didn't mention how much weight you lost but I'm sure it was a lot. You had a great race time too. I can't believe you started that late! That would have stressed me out sooooo bad. I'm glad I was some help to you. It's good you found a great running partner also. That helps so much.

I'm so glad you and Andrew could do this together, and that he liked it. Rick and I have run a lot together this year and it's been really fun for us. What a great thing to do together, and support each other. It helps build a great marriage, and gives you depth and strength as an individual.

Congrats to both of you! :)

adrianne s. said...

That is amazing and inspirational! Seriously, way to go!!!

The Bentley's said...

I've been waiting for this post! so fun to read! way to go. you are AMAZING!!

Brynne said...

You guys are hot. That is so fun to accomplish a goal like that together. I knew you would catch the RACE BUG! :) It will be fun to do some together before we know it!

Matt and Adge said...

cassie, that is so inspiring! i have wanted to start jogging for the last couple weeks now and always have something 'come up' to keep me from doing it. i don't know if a half marathon is in my near future, but i would love to make some goals...congrats and great job!!

The Obstinant Family said...

Cassie that is an AwEsOmE achievement. Congrats to you and your hubby!

gregandlaura said...

WOW! I am impressed Cassie - that is totally awesome! Keep up the good work!

aliciamae100 said...

You're amazing! What an accomplishment! Good for you!!

Aly G said...

What an awesome thing you have started! I hear it is addicting so i better not try! No I too have started the running thing lately, not like you though! You should be so proud of yourself! You guys look awesome too!

mshim77 said...

Congrats Cassie! I saw Chrislyn (Barnes) Woolston this weekend at a Time Out For Women and she says 'hi'.

Cairen said...

That's awesome! Good job, both of you! I love the birthday pictures with the ONE balloon so cute!

Michelle Baird Designs said...

I'm a little late on commenting, but WAY TO GO. You are awesome girl. Great time and you look fabulous. Are you hooked? Are you signed up for more? I must be a glutton for punishment, because I'm doing St. George again. Anyway, you are a rock star!