13.1 miles

Around May 21st I joined a gym. I can't remember the exact date, but I know it was right around there. I knew when I joined that I was going to attempt to run a half-marathon. I had no prior running experiences except for a mile here or there on our old treadmill. When I was a kid I usually got out of running in gym class because I had asthma. It wasn't that I didn't like to run, it was just that I really couldn't breath when I did. Anyway, back to May. I couldn't run a mile. I could barely run a .25 of a mile after a week. I eventually was able to run a mile without stopping and I felt like I would never be able to make 13.1 miles. Here is a look back at the highlights of what I did when I started up to now.


May 28-     I ran 2.04 miles in 30:41.
June 2-       I ran 2.00 miles in 26:23.
June 4 -      I ran 2.01 miles in 23:56.
June 24-     I ran 2.17 miles in 21:55.
July 17-      I ran 3.20 miles in 37:46.
July 19-      I ran 4.51 miles in 52:51.
July Total- 51.94 miles
Aug 2-       I ran 5.05 miles in 57:34.
Aug 30-     I ran 6.01 miles in 1:21:30.
August Total- 68.56 miles
Sept 6-       I ran 6.56 miles in 1:32:41.
Sept 11-     I ran 3.50 miles in 41:12.
Sept 12-     I ran 5.18 miles in 1:11:29.
Sept 18-     I ran 9.49 miles in 2:09:00.
Sept 25-     I ran 12.02 miles in 2:53:03 in the rain!
September Total- 87.22 miles
Oct 4-        I ran 5.01 miles in 58:05.
Oct 16-      I ran 5.00 miles in 59:21.
Oct 19-      I ran 13.17 miles in 2:55:52 (but the official race time was 3:01:25).


I did it! I ran 13.1 miles yesterday! If you had asked me in the beginning of May if I thought I would ever run a half-marathon I would have said that was a crazy question and probably not! I had a few injuries, nothing big, but a few minor things that halted progress. I can now proudly say that I have ran 281.9 miles (at least that I have tracked) since May! I want to run a 10k, a 10 miler and another half-marathon in the next 6 months or so! I will see if I can accomplish my goal of doing my next half in 2 hours and 40 minutes!


I am proud of Matt too! He also ran his first half-marathon yesterday and did it in 1:58! He wants to run more too, but he still hates running! Ha.


So, today in the Kruse house we are hobbling, limping and groaning every time we must get up, but we feel accomplished! I couldn't have done it without God, Matt and Betsey! My father-in-law helped too by making the Nike running app a competition in a way! Prayer, music, strength training, friends, family and running, running and more running made it possible!