This area is about my running. I started running many long decades ago and I could do about 5:10 a mile for 6 miles. Now I'm an old geezer who did a 5K in 28 minutes in 2008 and nothing since... Until April 2015 when I did the Big House 5K in 34:44 or 10:51 a mile. Quite a bit slower. I've been walking 3 to 6 miles a day since 2012 as part of my weight loss and control plan but I've always considered running because I could get more fitness benefit and dispose of more calories in a shorter time. I enjoyed the Big House so much, I ran another 5K a week later at 9:41 a mile. It was the Martian which is to date one of the best and most fun runs I've ever done. I mean they were handing out blow up aliens and the web site claimed scientists on Earth and Mars were actively working to reduce gravity on the day of the race? What more did I need to know? I signed up immediately. So that's where my story begins: couch to 5K. But it doesn't end there. It quickly became couch to 10K. Then it was couch to half marathon and it became couch to marathon when I ran the Free Press international marathon and cross between the US and Canada twice over 26.2 miles. Finally, after another two marathons it became couch to Boston when I qualified for Boston at the Mountains to Beach marathon in Ventura, Ca on May 29, 2016.
During the summer of 2015, I ran nine timed races leading up to the last day to cancel or change registration for the freep marathon: August 26th. Most of them were 5K's (3.1 miles) with a few 10k's and one half marathon sprinkled in between. I was running a little faster and got down to just under 10 minutes a mile on short runs and 11 minutes a mile on long runs. I averaged 15 miles a week. After deciding to stick with the freep, I decided I wanted to finish healthy and happy rather than walking so I picked up a copy of "Hanson's Marathon Method" from Amazon (Kindle format) and read it. I was so impressed, I decided to start using the Hanson's method and signed up for coaching... a mere 6 weeks before the race.
I was dabbling until September 1 averaging 15 miles a week and since then I've been averaging 50 to 60 miles a week. My times have gone from high nines and tens to mid eights to mid nines. In the Detroit Women's Half Marathon, and yes they allow men to run, I averaged 8:30 on the nice flat terrain on Belle Isle. This past Sunday, I completed the Brooksie Way half marathon averaging 8:33 a mile including 2 big hills. Just weeks ago, I ran a 10K at 9:59 a mile.
I ran 9:20 a mile in the Freep, 9:30 a mile in the Disney World Marathon and finally got to my goal 8:47 a mile in the Mountains to Beach Marathon, finishing at 3:50:17, well below the 3:55 Boston Marathon qualifying standard for my age.
