Here goes nothin'

After graduating college and completely losing all direction in life... just kidding.. I decided that I need a new challenge. So, as the title says "Here goes nothin'". Seriously though.... I have never been much a of a writer and I am COMPLETELY out of my element, bear with me as I navigate my way though this foreign world of blogging. But, I have a lot of thoughts and being a bit of fitness guru I thought "Hey! Why not write a blog about my running adventures?". I find people are always asking me about running. Like I am some sort of expert.... HA! As if! I just happen to be a freak of nature and really, REALLY like to run.

No big deal, just graduating college.

Here are some basics about me. My name is Meridith, I am a 22 year old marathon runner from the, currently, frozen state of Wisconsin. I am a coffee addict, I actually have 11 open bags of different coffee in my freezer. Yes, I did just go count. Desserts are one of my greatest weaknesses (hence all of the running). Being a health nut I TRY to find ways to make them healthy-ish but sometimes you just have screw it and treat yourself to the good stuff!  I have been a vegetarian for the past five years and counting. Finding new recipes and ways to cook meals is something I love doing.  I have newly discovered how wonderful candles can make life. That and a good Pandora station. Gotta set the mood people! My most productive time is really, really late at night, which is very unfortunate for my sleep schedule. But that's what the coffee is for right? Well, that and yoga. Hot yoga and a grueling Pilates session are two things that I just could not live without.  Being from Wisconsin and our beautiful four seasons I love spending time outdoors. Water sports, hiking, reading, you name it, I love it.

Being outdoorsy hiking with some girlfriends.

This brings me to how I started my running adventures. One fateful Saturday, my senior year of high school now *gasp* five years ago, I decided to tag along with my Dad on his morning run. My Dad is a killer triathlete, one of the most modest people I have ever met. You would never guess he wins his age group in nearly every race he competes in. The man is in incredible shape so it's no surprise he left me in the dust.  Let's just say at the end of that three and a half mile run I was laying on my back whimpering for my mom to bring me water. Fast forward three years of casual running, the longest I had ever run was maybe ten miles. My Sister calls me and tells me we are going to run a marathon and finish and Ironman. I laughed in her face, via phone of course.  I am all about running and I wouldn't mind the swimming but there is no way you will ever find me on a bike for 112 miles. EVER. Especially after my little spill this summer.  I earned a big, beautiful, new scar gracefully dismounting my bike after a run in, literally, with the curb. Eight screws and one very large plate later I have a will not set off metal detectors at the airport. Whoo hoo! 

If you're going to break your collar bone you need to do it right, into 5 pieces. This way they'll have to cut off your favorite running top and you won't be able to shower for a few days after emergency surgery!

She and I signed up for the Green Bay Marathon that May. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have ever done. It ended up being incredibly hot that day. The race ended was black flagged halfway through (the flag color describes the conditions of the race, green, yellow, red and finally black which means the race is cancelled due to extreme/unsafe conditions). The fire department and ERs were over loaded with runners who had fallen to the heat and demands of the race. I was at mile 18 when it was officially cancelled but thanks to the colorful words of a woman behind me about it "not being that hot" I carefully continued the race. I can honestly say crossing that finish line was one of the most rewarding moments in my life so far. I had trained my bum off to get where I was and no one could take that moment away from me. I was lucky enough to get to share that day with my sister who pushed through the heat and cramping to finish her race. My dad, being in the incredible shape he is in, actually ran the last TEN miles with her to let her finish the day on her own! Talk about a cool dad!!!

My Mom makes the greatest signs ;) Yes Mom, we did it!

The next and most recent marathon I ran was the Fox Cities Marathon. I trained for this one virtually on my own. Very different from my last training which I was so blessed to have a running group of experienced women to help me navigate the waters of marathon training. This time around was a little different, I wanted to beat me time from the last race. I had an ambitious goal in the back of my mind. I wanted what every marathon runner wants. The thing we all run for, what drives us to get better. I wanted Boston. I needed to beat a 3:35:00 to get there. I told myself that if it didn't happen during this race I had my whole life to get this goal and to listen to my body on race day. I started out with a pace group running a 3:30. This way I had a 5 minute cushion if I couldn't keep up with them. Starting off I honestly didn't think I would be able to make it. But I had the best cheering section, period. My mom, older sister and best friend were following me and along the course I saw them 13 times. Unheard of. Do that math, that's nearly every 2 miles. The people in the pace group asked if I was a local celebratory or something. HA! With all of the odds in my favor I finished my second marathon with a PR of 3:27:29!!!!

Running tip: Always smile at the photographers. But seriously, you never know they might use your picture for their marketing campaign!

even if this is how you're REALLY feeling ;)

but be HAPPY because you made it!! 

Now I had qualified for Boston but was it calling my name? 2013 was too soon for me to get all my affairs in order to make it there and being a full-time student it didn't seem feasible to make it out there BUT 2014??? The registration opened very shortly after my bike "incident" and I decided what with not knowing what my future would be aka would my post-graduation plans allow for me to take the time off to travel and run the race? Also would I be healthy enough to run it? But the underlying question is after taking all this time off of running would I WANT to run another marathon again? Taking all of these into consideration I decided that I was not going to sign up  for the race and I would go from there. Immediately following the closing of registration, I regretted my decision. Now I am using this as my motivation to qualify for Boston again. This time I will be healthier and certain that this is what I want to do!

ALL that leads me to now where I am now. I am currently getting back into "running mode" and starting to train for another marathon this spring. I'll be tracking my training and all that comes along with it. Including but not limited to, rants and raves about runs, new recipes I'm trying, training tips and some random thoughts that I feel the need to share. So I leave you with all of this really long first blog post! Welcome to Running for Desserts :) Cheers!!!!