Thirteen for 2013

 When we met Ali Vincent ( of The Biggest Loser) at last year's Disney Princess Half Marathon Expo, she mentioned to us that she had a goal of doing 13 races in 2013 ( She may have actually said 13 half marathons, I'm not completely sure).  We both left the expo thinking that was very ambitious of Ali and what a great goal for her, but never thought anything more about it after we left.

As we neared the last months of 2013, my sister and I both realized that we both would be completing 13 races ( not all half marathons) in 2013!

Here's a quick recap of the ones I did.
 
Lets start at the beginning. 

January

 
Walt Disney World 20th Anniversary Marathon.
This was special to me because it was my first marathon. In addition of it being my first, it was an anniversary year for Disney so they made it extra special with a huge medal and a new course that had a mile spectacular during mile 20.  If you haven't already read it, here is a full recap of the WDW Marathon.

February


 Virginia is for LoversValentine's day 14k race. Very flat course and very cold day. Here is a recap of the 14K.

Then it was back to Disney again for the Princess half this time. This would have been my 2nd year completing this race and I wanted to beat my time from last year, which I succeeded and got myself a new Pr! If you are interested in running the Princess Half, you can read about it HERE.



The day before the half I completed the Royal Family 5k with my family. HERE is a brief recap of this fun race!


March

Shamrock full marathon. (Virginia Beach)
Having this race be in the city I live, there was no excuse for me not to sign up for it. Since this was my second full marathon,  my only goal was to beat my time from my first marathon,  which was not hard because it was a very flat course. I succeeded. I was so proud of my time that I knew it would be very hard to beat that in future marathons.  I signed up for this same race for 2014.  You can read about the 2013 Shamrock race HERE.

April 15

Boston marathon
I felt very fortunate to have completed the marathon considering all of what happened this year. I knew I was not going for a PR but just to be a part of it was such an honor. To this date I have never ran a race that had the support of the spectators as this one did! If you'd like to read about my experience, I've documented it HERE.

April 27


Big Sur
I was able to be a part of the Boston to Big Sur challenge-2 marathons 2 coasts in 13 days. 
Having been told that this course was harder than Boston,  I was not expecting to do better with my time. Even though the course was more difficult than Boston,  I completed it 7 minutes less. There were more hills on this course along with different elevations, which brought on beautiful scenery.  One direction you would see the ocean,  the other, a mountain. I would say this was the hardest marathon, yet the most beautiful to date. That's why I will be doing this one again next year. HERE is Why I thought that Big Sur was so great!

May 4th
 

6 days after completing the Big Sur I ran the Rivertowns marathon near my hometown in Pa. This marathon was not planned but after finding out that it was opened to any participant that ran the Boston marathon this year,  I knew I wanted to run it. I even beat my Big Sur time by one minute!
You can read about this race HERE.

After doing many races this past spring. I decided I needed a break. I didn't complete another race til the end of summer.

September


Labor day weekend.
Rock and Roll Virginia Beach half marathon. 
It was very hot so not my best time. But I did get to run with my good friend I do not see often. In addition, my mom and sister came to visit and ran the relay. Rock and Roll is a great race series that has much entertainment. That evening we enjoyed listening to the bands that were included to all race recipients.  Here is the Recap for the Rock n Roll Half.

October






































Crawlin Crab half marathon, Hampton Virginia.
I enjoyed this race because it was fairly close to home, so no travel expense, yet far enough away where I don't run daily. This race was much smaller than other races I've completed, which made it easier to get to your corrals in the beginning and get a good spot at the finish line to meet friends. It turned out to be a beautiful race day.  Click HERE to read the full Crawlin Crab recap.

October 26th 
 

Wicked 10k
My sister and mom came down again to virginia beach for another race. It was a fun run with no pressure on time. We enjoyed seeing many great costumes during the race. It turned out to be another beautiful race day. Recap for Wicked 10K can be found HERE.

November

 



































I knew I wanted to complete a race this month because it was the month of my birthday. I looked into several turkey trots over Thanksgiving,  but because they were mostly 5ks I felt I wanted to do more than that considering all the food I would consume for Thanksgiving. That is why I signed up for a virtual race through Us Road Running for the month of November. You pick your own distance (5k, 10k, or half). You log your own miles on what ever day you choose and then submit it to their website. You even get a nice medal for completing it. I completed the 10k  before my Thanksgiving feast!

December


Surf n Santa 10 Miler
A very cold and rainy day but a great time because I had a good friend pace me. That was my motivation. Recap for the Surf n Santa can be found here.

  For my final race of 2013, my sister and I did the Jingle Bell Challenge.  We ran this race in my home town and it was great seeing a bit of snow and many holiday decorations on our run.  Here is the recap from this race that we posted earlier this week.


As it ended up, my sister and I did a combination of different races, but we both ended up doing at least 13.  I think that last virtual race put me at 14, but that's one extra race for good measure!

We didn't start 2013 out having any specific race goals or wanting to complete a certain amount, but thought it was pretty cool the way it ended up.   ~L

Did you have specific goals for 2013? 

36 comments:

  1. Wow! Congrats on all of your races!!!

    Now you have me curious about my count, lol.

    I did make a few specific goals, and reached most of them. There is still one BIG running goal time for the marathon I'm trying to reach.....maybe 2014 will be my year ;)

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    1. Good luck with your goals! I'm not quite sure what mine will be for 2014.

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  2. BAH! My computer keeps eating my comment, so let's try this again...
    I can't believe we were at 4 of the same race events - WDW Marathon weekend, Va is for Lovers, Princess and Shamrock and never met! And I had no idea you ran Boston. I'm heading over to read that post after this.
    Funny enough, I wrote about scrapping my goal of 13 half marathons in 2013 on our blog today. We must catch up in the new year :) -C

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    1. Yes, we must meet up! I signed up for the Shamrock again this year, but i'm sure i'll be doing several other races in the area too! -L

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  3. I love it all!! You had a really great year with really great races! Congrats! :0)

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  4. Great job to both of you!! That is a lot of racing in one year, especially with all those full marathons!! Will you be at any runDisney events in 2014?

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    1. Hi Lauren! We will both be at PHM weekend in Feb. I'm sure we will be at some other RD events, but haven't registered for anything else yet!

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  5. Awesome! My only goal was to finish my first half marathon, and I did that! you ran a TON of marathons this year! I'm hoping to run my first one in 2015... we will see though!

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    1. Congrats on finishing your first half Rachel! Keep it up and you'll be running your first full before you know it!

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  6. My only goal in 2013 was to get a PR during the Eugene half, which I did! :) I wanted a better time to submit to rD for January. Now my goal for Donald is to finish it without aggravating my ITBS, then my next goal is to get rid of said ITBS.

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    1. Congrats on your PR, that's awesome! Good luck with Donald and hope you finish with out any issues ( maybe even a new PR)!

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  7. That's awesome!!! I can see how racing can become addictive. Not sure I could do more than one or two half marathons, but I love 10 and 5k's!

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  8. You are right Tonya, running races can be addictive. I don't think we intended to run all these races, but it's hard to pass them by!

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  9. What a great year of races for 2013! I loved running Big Sur, too! Congrats on running it even faster than Boston!

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    1. Thanks Tina. I'm looking forward to Big Sur in 2014. Will you be there?

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  10. Looks like an amazing year! That Wicked run looks great, I may have to travel for that one year. I'm considering the WDW full in 2015 but I'm not sure I'll be ready, 26.2 is a really long way! Congrats on such a great year of racing!

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    1. Wicked is such a fun race. You should definitely consider it!

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  11. I enjoyed reading your 2013 review. I want to do the Crawlin Crab so bad! It just stinks because I've ran SO many races in VA already, and driving there from Pgh is pretty sucky. I'll do it someday though, mark my word.

    I loved the RnR VA Beach medals this year!

    I hope you have an even better 2014! You should join the 14 in 14 challenge over at http://jillconyers.com/2013/11/are-you-ready-to-run-14-in-2014/

    Happy New Year!

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    1. I do many races in VA. Let me know if you do come down for one. I'll go check out that challenge, Thanks!

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  12. WOW, 3 marathons so close together, you are AMAZING and are my new running hero! You had a great year, congrats! My biggest goal in 2014 is training healthy so I can run Boston in April. Anything past that will be determined after that race. Happy New Year!

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    1. Aww, Thanks for the kind words! Good luck with your training for Boston!

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  13. Congrats on all your races! You've got some pretty amazing medals!

    Who do you think will be @ Princess Race this year? I met Meb the first year I ran the race - something I will never forget. I hope there is someone amazing this year, too!

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    1. Thanks Alicia! Hmm, not sure who will be at Princess this year, now you got me wondering!

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  14. 13?! What an achievement- and so many marathons after your very first!! I can't wait to see what you have planned for 2014. (I especially loved you Boston Marathon recap.) Go get 'em!!

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    1. Thanks Didi! So far we have three biggies planned and I'm sure we'll throw in a few smaller races through out the year!

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  15. That is a pretty cool goal and luckily you did 13+ without realizing it!
    Maybe I'll set a goal for 14 races next year!!

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    1. Yea, I liked the way that turned out!
      I did more races this year than I ever did. I couldn't imagine doing more ( unless they were virtual ones of course)!

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  16. Congrats. I cannot believe you ran 3 marathons so close together. That is both awesome and inspiring

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    1. Thanks! I was in full marathon mode then. Had I had months in between to think about it, I might not have done them!

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  17. Wow congrats! 13 races is really impressive!!

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  18. Looks like yall did a bunch of awesome races. Congrats on your 13! The only goal I had was to finish the marathon and have fun!

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  19. Congrats on completing 13 races in 2013! I actually participated in the 13 in 2013 challenge and completed 18 races. But mine were a mixture of virtual and real-life races.

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