The weather is cooling down, the races are coming in hot, and miles are climbing up! As a team, GRIT athletes are crushing it this fall. I wanted to post some updates highlighting everyone's successes and our new team members. Also, GRIT Endurance is officially 1 year old and I am so excited that I get to live my passion coaching everyone that I have in the last year. It is exciting to grow with each and every person I coach even if it has been for a short time!
First, we have a few new team members to introduce!
Tish found us after I set up a booth at the Marine Corps Half Marathon packet pick up. Her goals are to regain some endurance and strength after taking some time off.
Perry found GRIT through the local running groups in New Bern, NC after he recently finished his first 50 K. He is a software engineer, parent, artist, and Army Veteran. Perry is working towards his first 50 miler in January.
Annette was referred by another GRIT Athlete Jake. She is working up to being able to run for 30 minutes and regain strength after having her first child.
We have had so many achievements as a team this fall. Last weekend, Jill set a personal best at her half marathon and it was her first marathon back after having her 3rd child! Since joining the team she has set two PR's (17 seconds in the 5k and 3 minutes 48 seconds in the half marathon) and continues to gain overall strength. She is working up to do her first full marathon next year.
Jessy ran Chicago Marathon after switching gears from ultra marathons- she ran her first 50 miler in April. She is also running Charlotte Marathon in a few weeks. She is continuing to work towards a goal of sub-four hours in the marathon distance.
Quin ran Berlin Marathon in September and set a marathon PR by 1 minute and 20 seconds! It was his second marathon and his first international race. He is currently waiting to find out if he gets selected from the lottery for the London Marathon next year.
Revel attempted her first 100 miler at Hennepin 100 in Illinois. She was able to complete over 80 miles before succumbing to an injury. This was her farthest distance run and is still completely badass since she ran this will little support and did not have pacers throughout the night. She is back to training and is looking for a new 100 to sign up for in the coming months.
Stacey ran her first 100 miler at Yeti 100 in Damascus, VA with a finish time of 26:41:10. She absolutely obliterated her goals and finished this race despite horrible rain (actually a hurricane) and cold temps through the night. I was there to crew and pace her and watched countless experienced athletes drop from the race and she had a positive mental attitude the entire time. Quitting was never an option for her!
Lainey has continued to build endurance over the months and not only surpassed her initial goals of running for 30 minutes after having a baby, but has continued to gain strength and speed over the past few months. She is looking to complete a half marathon and eventually full marathon next year.
For me, I recently ran two half marathons with a double stroller and the twins in tow- the Marine Corps Half Marathon in September and the Ironclad Half Marathon a few weeks ago. I also logged 29 miles while running with Stacey at YETI 100. I have been taking it easy since this training cycle has been challenging due to my partner being away for work and having the twins by myself for 3 months this fall. I also had COVID really bad late summer and it wiped me out for almost 6 weeks with lingering fatigue. I am learning to love stroller running, but am giving myself grace with time goals since I have to stop about 6 times during the run! This weekend I am running Marine Corps Marathon. This race has special meaning to me since I just ended my service as an active duty Marine on October 9th. I signed up for this race as a way to reflect on the time I served and to run with my fellow Marines and remember those who are no longer with us including two Marines who were in bootcamp with me, Sergeant Nicole Gee and Sergeant Amanda Brazeal. I will also keep those who have passed away in the KC-130 community in my thoughts while I served due to aviation mishaps. This marathon was also my first back in 2013, so it will be interesting to run it again as my first marathon postpartum. It can be an emotional race since they have a "blue mile" where it is dedicated to the memory of those who gave their lives while serving. I've never been able to run a blue mile without being a tearful, sobbing mess. I am only looking to finish and have fun and then I will set a time goal moving forward from here.
