Hi friends! Remember me? No? That’s okay. My name is Addie. I’ve been working at Metro Run & Walk since 2011 – right after I ran my first ever half marathon. I also am a third grade teacher and a coach for Girls on the Run, as well as a third grade running club at my elementary school. I have two kids, three cats, a dog, and a 17 year old frog that is missing a limb. I look a little bit like this:

Last year I set out to conquer Marine Corps. It was my second marathon, and was an attempt for me to reclaim a piece of myself that I felt I had lost due to heartbreak and life being a roller coaster. If you weren’t following along last year, I’ll give you the quick and dirty – I finished the marathon, but if anything conquered anyone – it conquered me.

My training was plagued by my own ego. Certain that because I had kept up a great training pace early in the Spring, all my new PRs meant that my body was kicking ass and taking names, and that as long as I was even half hearted about my training, I would destroy my PR by about 30 minutes. I was cocky. I paid the price.

I DID get a PR at MCM 2014, but instead of the 30 minutes I had expected, it was an eight second PR. Now that a lot of time has separated me from the race, I can laugh and say that a PR is a PR, but at the time, it was like getting smashed in the face with failure. I couldn’t stand my friends who wanted to make me feel better by declaring how big of an accomplishment it is to even finish a marathon. Their intentions were great, and yes, they were right, but I was SO DAMN SURE I had it in the bag.

This year is a very, very different year. For a number of reasons. I don’t feel like this is part of me I have to reclaim. Last year, every training run felt like flipping the bird to someone that had broken my heart, and all of that has healed by now. Last year I was in great shape. I had spent the entire first six months of the years running religiously, training my ass off, and shattering my PRs in every distance up to and included the half marathon. This year, I’ve gotten lazy. I have put on about 10 pounds since October and only raced about three times (and certainly nothing touched a PR). I bought a house, got a dog, and settled into a SUPER domestic and lazy life.

The biggest change this year will be that not only am I getting back in the saddle, but I will be running along side my husband who is training for his first ever marathon. When we met he was NOT a runner, and he would occasionally scoff when I spent a night at his house, but made sure to bring running clothes so I could head out for a run or a race the next day. Our competitive natures, however, got the best of us one day when I challenged him to a 5k (while he wasn’t a runner, he was a former crossfitter and very fit). I beat him at that first race, and since then we’ve raced a lot, always running separately to see who could win. Eventually I got him to train for and run a half marathon. When I ran MCM last year, Sean joined me for the last ten miles, which I had warned him, would make him want to run a marathon. He didn’t believe me, but by a few days later the truth had come out, and we both entered the lottery for 2015. And, surprise surprise, we both got in!

So, here we go again. I’ve actually scaled back on the training plan I will be using, using Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 plan instead of the intermediate plan I used last year. Just like last year, I will be spending a lot of my summer traveling, which tends to make for some interesting training runs and scenery! If you are training, I can’t wait to go on this journey with you! And if you are a person that is more sane than myself, feel free to enjoy this punishment I am inflicting on myself.

Here’s to 2015!