Training & Races

The first race I ran was July 2009 with one of my best friends, Karen. We did the Dublin Irish Festival 4-miler. And honestly, I thought I had never been more hungry when I was finished. In fact, I felt like i just concurred the world. Little did I know what 13.1 or 26.2 felt like to complete.


I was motivated to finish that summer race, to push myself as 4 miles was the longest I had ever run.


"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." - Jim Ryun

About 2 months later I moved down to North Carolina and began training for my first Half Marathon. It was a Boston-Qualifier for those running the full, however, my goal was to finish. There are quite a few hills and elevation changes in Charlotte and that, along with the heat and humidity made training that much more difficult for me. Mike and I were training 'together'. And by that I mean, he was busy running a 7:20 pace while I was trying my hardest to beat a ten-minute mile. It is not how fast you run, he kept saying, it is whether or not you finish. And that I did at 2:20:01 minutes. He was waiting for me at the finish line of the Thunder Road 2009 Half Marathon, by about 50 minutes. But I did not care, I was ecstatic to finish and I actually ran the whole time, never once stopping even while at the aid stations. Not too bad!

You may know by now from reading about my health history, but one of the hardest parts of training for me is not the distance or the injuries, but the carb-loading. It goes against everything I had learned to control my diabetes and my weight. So I am trying to embrace that more and more with each new race.

December 12, 2009

 Crossing the FINISH Line!!

Melissa C. #5223

Charlotte, NC

Age: 27 Gender: F

Distance	HALF MAR
Clock Time	2:21:51
Chip Time	2:20:01
Overall Place	2307 / 3002
Division Place	260 / 343
Divtot	438
10Ksplit	1:02:56
Pace	10:42

"Aspire to be great instead of good, aspire to be remembered instead of forgotten, aspire to accomplish what others have and have not done, aspire to be yourself and nothing else for when you strive to be yourself everything is limitless because you are not holding yourself to the limits of others." - Troy Streacke

That April began the First Annual McCary 10k. The name is a beautiful combination of both me and Mike's last names--haha. The registration fee was a 6-pack of craft beer. We set the race up to pass each other, heading the opposite way as our opponent and high-fiving in the middle. The winner was to make dinner that night for the first runner up ;) Heehee. Genius I tell you. 

Registration Fee:

 Participants:

Winner:

 First Runner Up:

Talk about f-u-n! Not only did we get to bond, but also got to have a little date night since the winner a.k.a. Mike, made dinner for us. We did continue the tradition this year and had the 2nd Annual McCary 10k. Only I did not love how I looked during that time as I had put on a few lbs,  so no pictures. I know, I know, 2012 will be different.

November 2010 I ran the Battleship Half Marathon in Wilmington, NC. It was a race that was dedicated to the men and women serving in the U.S. military. Pretty amazing, especially considering some men were running it in their Fatigues and combat boots. Mike cheered me on as I ran and his cousins Matt & Carrie drove to meet us as well. It was a decent race, although it lacked in organization and spectators compared to Thunder Road, overall it was a good time.

More Importantly-I PR'd it!!

Melissa C.

Charlotte, NC

Age: 28 Gender: F

Distance	HALF MAR
Clock Time	2:19:56
Chip Time	2:18:03
Overall Place	971 / 1308
Division Place	111 / 1308
Pace	10:41

 My morning taxi

One of the Battleships

Mile 7

Yummy!

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

The Nike Women's Marathon was the 4th race I trained for. I entered the race lottery April 15th 2011 and was randomly selected on April 30th out of 30,000 people to run 26.2 miles.  And so the training began. 565 miles in 23 weeks. The race was on Sunday, October 16th. Mike & I flew to San Fran Friday the 14th and enjoyed our time in the city prior to the race. The training I went through truly changed my life. It was the toughest, most self-disciplined thing I have ever done. I learned a lot about myself and also the kind of life I wanted to live. I spent many Saturday mornings by myself running through town channeling good energy from those around me. I would dedicate a mile to someone important in my life to help tear down the miles and also think of other people. It was a life-changing event, one of the closest things I have ever done to being completely at ease. There is a lot of confidence that comes in running long distances. There is also a lot of dedication and determination that coincides with 26.2 miles. As I have always said running is 90% mental, the remaining 10% your legs will carry you.

"Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about." - PattiSue Plummer, U.S. Olympian


My owie week 4 after tripping over a tree on a run:*(

 It's time....26.2

Mike jumping in to run w/me :)

The NWM took me longer to complete than I anticipated, but I ran up every hill in San Francisco. I only stopped twice to walk fast, around 20 miles of course, when I had lactic acid build-up I am sure. I am a perfectionist by nature and it was discouraging to know I had trained so hard and so long for something and not quite hit my goal. For awhile I felt strangely defeated. Until I realized-I did the best I could. Period.

I am currently debating what the next race I will sign up for. I will keep you posted. Until then-Happy Running.