My Very Own Blog!

Wow! Well here I am making my very own blog! It wasn't so long ago that I didn't even know what a blog was! I guess I figured I needed a way to connect with other runners as I learn to train for a marathon. So let me introduce myself:

My name is Ashleigh and I grew up in Dwight, IL. That is small town of about 4500 people about an hour and a half south west of Chicago on I55. (yes, in IL we measure distances in time, not miles ha ha) It was a great town to grow up in. I ran track in junior high school, but didn't continue in high school because I thought I'd never be good enough. I graduated Dwight Township High School in May of 2000. I did one year of junior college at Joliet Junior College to save some money. Then I transferred to Illinois State University for 3 years and graduated in 2004 with my Bachelors of Science Degree in Medical Technology. I found a job and moved to Springfield, IL at Memorial Medical Center in the laboratory on midnight shift (yuck). In my line of work, you have to pay your dues and work the odd shifts before you earn your right to get hired on dayshift. I've been at this job for nearly 4 years and I'm hoping the option to go to days will come soon.

As far as my running life:

I picked up a book about a year ago called "The complete Book of Running for Women" by Claire Kowalchik. I read it slowly over a period of about 6-8 months. I started to get kind of excited at the thought that I could possibly become a runner. In this book there was a training plan to go from walking/running to running for 30 min straight in 10 wks. I starred at this chart for many weeks wondering whether or not it was possible. The other thing holding me back was the fact that I was a smoker, and I had already quit once the previous year only to fail. I was afraid of that failure again, but I was also afraid that people would make fun of me for trying to be a runner and a smoker. Finally on Feb. 28th 2008 I decided to lace up my very first pair of real running shoes and step out the door. The first week of the plan was to run 2 min, walk 4 min and repeat 4 times. My running log from that first week says things like "great to be starting!" "a little sore, still excited!" "dedicated" "accomplished" "ready to step it up next week!". In the following weeks, more often then not, I mention that I had a hard time breathing and that I need to quit smoking. Then I learned that if I could hold off on smoking in the mornings until after my runs, then the runs were a lot easier. I went with this for awhile.

When I realized that I might actually finish this ten week program, I decided to sign up for my very first 5k race to prove to myself that I was a real runner. My stomach was in knots as I signed up on the internet and paid my money for this race. The race was to take place June 7th and it was for the Regional Burn Center for the hospital that I work at in Springfield. Oh I remember the anticipation and the anxiety that morning. I knew that I could run the distance, but I was very nervous about being around other runners. Real runners. The runners that have been doing these kinds of races and distances for years and years and years. My boyfriend and his son went with me to the race and my boyfriend told me that I was one of them. That I could do this and that I belonged there just as much as any of them. He told me that I worked so hard for this and that I deserved this. This is just what I needed to hear. It helped me more than he will ever know. He got me a gift for my very first race. He got me an ipod. I thought this was so sweet! I had no idea this little gift would change my life the way it did. He already had it loaded with some pumped up music so that I could have it for my first race. I was set.

I ran that race hard. It hurt, as it was very hilly and I hadn't trained on any hills (I didn't even know we had those kinds of hills in the area!). I managed to come into my very first finish line in 28:23, more than a minute less than my goal. Oh I was sooo excited! And completely exhausted. I couldn't believe I actually did it! My boyfriend and his son cheered me on and hugged me and were sooo supportive! I immediately put on my first race shirt because I actually earned it. My boyfriend told me that we should stay for the awards because he didn't see that many females come in before me. I was totally confused at the time as to what this meant, but I was up for sitting for a bit so I didn't mind. When the results came back, it turned out that I was the 7th female finisher and all six female finishers before me got a medal. Wow, I couldn't believe that I was so close on my very first race to getting an award! Wouldn't that have topped it all!?! Oh well, maybe next time.

Next time. When will that be. A friend at work told be about a 10K race that was to take place in August and was pretty well known in the area. A fairly big race with lots of people. I was like, uh yeah right, there's no way. Is there? Well, why not. If anyone can do it, why not me? The book I read to get up to running 30 min straight also had some 5k and 10k training plans. Again my stomach was in knots as I signed up for this race on the internet and paid my money. In the meantime, I ran another 5k race just 3 short wks after my first and improved my time to 25:58. Two weeks after that I ran a 2 mi race in 16:44.

A couple of weeks after that last race I found out about podcasts. I did a search on itunes for running podcasts and found Pheddippidations. The first episode I downloaded was about Steve Prefontaine, the only famous runner I had ever heard of. What a great episode. I was hooked to SteveRunner's voice. So calm and knowlegable. I started looking into the titles of his other archived episodes. I found things like 'the long slow run' and 'cold weather running' and thought that this was going to be a great way to learn about running. I proceeded to download every episode he had. At that time it was about 145 episodes. I listened. And listened. I listened in my car. I listened during my runs. I listened as I did housework, and when I walked the dog. I listened when I couldn't sleep as I lay in bed. I listened to every one of those 145 episodes over the course of 1 short month. My boyfriend asked (jokingly) if I had found a new man. No. What I found was special to me though. I found a running friend. I found someone who knew exactly the way I felt and had gone through the same things I had gone through at some point in his life. I absolutely loved hearing other people's stories too.

On August 17th, 2008 I ran and finished the Abe's Amble 10K road race. My finishing time was 55:51. It was a very hilly course, but I was so happy to finish! I felt so great! A funny thing happened during this race. I started seeing some of the same faces as I had in other races. As it turns out, Springfield has their very own road runners club. Cool!

As I listened to Fdip during the month of August, I heard these advertisements. Steve was promoting a race. First, in 2006, a half marathon road race. I listened to the episodes, and the race reports. I thought, wow, now that's cool! A virtual road race. Then I heard more advertisements for another virtual race in 2007. This one was to have two races, a half marathon and a kick the couch 5k. Another set of very good episodes. As I was catching up on the episodes of Fdip, and I started hearing Steve talk about the 3rd annual Festival of Races, I started to wonder. Could I possibly do this. Could I ever in a million years run 13.1 miles all together? Steve had me convinced. Of course I could. I went to the website I signed up and yes, my stomach was in knots. There I was: racerx from Thayer IL! (racerx: speedracer's brother who always raced but never won). I lent my voice to the Cheers from the Little Blue Bubble episode. And I was set. And so I trained. I ran. I had my setbacks. I was diagnosed with ITB syndrome on Sept. 11th. I still ran. I still trained. I decided to run the race in my hometown of Dwight because I also wanted to be home that weekend to celebrate my Dad's bday. I woke up very early in the morning on Oct 11th. I had my route already set. Two five mile loops and a 3.1 mile loop. It was very cold that morning, completely uneventful. My family had no idea what I was really doing. They knew I was going out for a long run, but they didn't think anything of a virtual race, and that was ok. I had my friends. True friends who actually didn't even knew I existed. I had my Cheers from the little Blue Bubble. I listened to what I consider to be the greats. The other running podcasters/bloggers that I had dabbled in slightly. Steve, Drusy, Nik, Dan, Nigel, Jodi, Marci, etc etc are what I consider the greats. In the midst of these 'famous' voices was my meek little voice wishing every new half marathoner good luck. I thought that was just so neat! As I ran this race, I was soooo very excited throughout the whole thing. I was excited to be a part of something so special. As I was listening to the podcast, I got a bit of a surprise. There were familar voices. Very familiar! My boyfriend and his son, Ty, were there wishing me good luck. I nearly started crying! It was such a surprise! I dashed into the finish in a time of 2:15! I did it! I ran a half marathon! I give all the thanks in the world to St. Stephen of the Phiddippidations podcast for at first giving me the idea to do a half marathon, and then encouraging me along the way.

So far this running podcast/running blog adventure has been a ton of fun. Since I've been all caught up with the Fdip episodes, I started listening to other podcasters. Some of my favorites are Jodi from Confessions of a Runner, Nigel from Running from the Reaper, and Nik and Dan from 4Feet Running. I haven't yet gotten the courage up to write to St. Stephen and tell him what all he has done for me. I feel completely unworthy of his time, which I know is limited with his schedule. But maybe one day.

My goals for 2009 are being set very high. I plan to run the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon here in Springfield in April, and I hope to run the Chicago Marathon as my first marathon in Oct. I would like to run it with the run for our sons organization (http://www.runforoursons.org/) to help raise money to find a cure for Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy.

Thanks for giving this little blog a little looksy!

By the way, I did quit smoking! It was mid August, just after I heard an episode of Fdip when St Stephen was talking about smokers and said "us runners, well we know better, and as for everyone else..." I thought to myself.... of course I know better! What the heck am I doing? So I quit. Cold turkey. Not the easiest thing in the world, but I think I'll be okay as long as I concentrate on my running and how much my breathing has improved since I quit. I know my boyfriend is certainly happy! (He's an ex-smoker himself and it wasn't easy seeing me smoke all the time!)

Anyway, that's it for now. I hope to hear from any and all of you that are checking this out. Would love to know what anyone thinks!