My Running Story:
How I started – In 2014 I moved into an apartment with my friend Robyn. I needed to save money somehow, and sharing an apartment seemed like a good idea at first. (It didn’t last a full year, so that didn’t work out!)
However, Robyn was a runner. I would see her go out for runs. As I would go around the city to do my errands or travel to work, I would see other people out for runs, too. Especially whenever I went by the Common Grounds (a park in the city).
When it got to the spring, I begin to think that I could do that. That I could learn to run. I never did any sports in high school. The only sport my small school did was basketball, and at only 5’2″, I wasn’t trying that.
Robyn took me to the local shoe store and I got fitted for my first pair of running shoes. They were Sauconys. We also went to a local store and I got myself a couple of running outfits. I downloaded the C25K app on my phone. We went to the Common Grounds and I started following the app. She went with me the first couple of times, but then I was doing it on my own.
Shortly after I started, I signed up for my first 5k. Maritime Race Weekend on September 13, 2014. Training went well. I do remember that when I got to the 20-minute run, I was at my parents and it was raining. I had to do it on the treadmill. The treadmill stopped on me! Technically, I didn’t run a straight 20 minutes!
Where I was training was mostly flat ground. About 3 weeks before race day, I moved. I moved to the area where I currently live. It’s hilly here. My times slowed down. I had a goal of wanting to run my first 5k in 30 minutes. At first, I thought I could do it, but now I wasn’t so sure.
Race day dawned cold. I went to the race with my friend Pam who was doing the 5k. I was so nervous at the start line. I was standing with these guys were who teasing these ladies in front of me (who they obviously knew) about their tights they had on. I was trying not to laugh. One of them looked at me and asked if I was nervous. When I saw I was, they told me that I would do great. He told me that in a few years he would be looking for me to do a marathon. Yeah right!!
The race started and off I went. 29:44 later I finished!! I went below 30 minutes!!!! I was so excited! I can’t believe that I was able to do that! I was hooked on running. Well, at least I was once it was spring again!!
I signed up for another 5k in May. That one was also under 30 minutes. I once again signed up for Maritime Race Weekend. This time I signed up for the Tartoon Twosome race. You run a 5k Friday night and any distance Saturday morning. I signed up for the 5k and 10k.
I didn’t follow any plan for the 5k. I just added 1k every week to my distance when I did my long runs. I ran both those in September 2015. They went really well. I was hooked on running by then for sure!
In 2016, I added new races to my race schedule. It’s hard for me to run races. I will not race on Sundays. I have found 4 local races that are on Friday evenings or Saturdays. Well, they are mostly 5ks with one 10k race. I still have my longer distances I can do at Maritime Race Weekend.
In 2016, I did my first half-marathon. I did follow a plan for that one. It was a hot race, but I was able to do it! I was ramping it up. Running longer and longer. I was ready for the next stage.
In 2017 I signed up for my first full marathon. Maritime Race Weekend was the only race I could find that did a full marathon on a Saturday. I found a plan and started to follow it. It didn’t go well. I wasn’t getting my runs in like I needed. I especially wasn’t getting my long runs in. When about a month before the race, the director said if we couldn’t finish the full in 6 hours, we had to drop down, I knew I had to. I felt like a failure when I dropped down to the half. I had failed at what I had tried to do. I had to try again, but I wasn’t fully confident in myself. I knew I couldn’t do it alone.
Favorite Moments – In 2o18, I once again signed up for Maritime Race Weekend for the 5k and Full Marathon. I was determined not to fail. I was determined to do it. In the spring, I joined up with Team in Training. I decided to run in honour of my Uncle Milton, who had been diagnosed with both Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma and Advanced Leukemia in March 2016. He underwent intensive treatment, including a bone marrow transplant, and was given a 1 in 10 chance of survival for a young person. He was 75 at the time of diagnosis. He is currently in remission and doing great! I wanted to run in honour of him. I wanted the coaches and support of running with a team.
I met some great people that summer as we training. Two other girls on the team were also training for their first marathons. I pushed through every long run. I was determined not to quit again. I was determined to do it. I wasn’t going to be a quitter again. When it came to the inspiration dinner just before race day, I was awarded the “Most Determined Award”. I think that perfectly describes how I felt!
On the Friday night before my first full, I did a 5k. I took it easy. I walked the first 3k and then ran the last 2k. A light run. I went home and tried to sleep. I was so nervous!
Race day was hot. It’s mid-September in Nova Scotia. You never really know what the weather might be and that day it was hot. I put on my purple TNT shirt with Uncle Milton’s name on the back. My stomach was full of butterflies. I wanted to run in the opposite direction. I wanted to throw up. I sincerely questioned my sanity.
The starting gun went off and I off I went. I was running my first full marathon. I told myself to take it easy. Not to get caught up in the flow of the fast runners. I looked at my time on my Garmin, and knew I needed to slow down. I struggled on the hills. I couldn’t really get up them. I kept looking down at my shoes, with my tag on that (that I got that year doing the Ordinary Marathon) that says “I can and I will.”
We went by the local baptist church and their church sign said “Hebrews 12:1 ‘Let us run with patience that race that is set before us” I laughed. I had that verses and Isaiah 40:31 (“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint”) all through my training. I knew I could do this.
I then saw the custom sign made for me a marathoner. It said “Angela, Stop Reading, Start Running”. That sign couldn’t have been more perfect! I LOVE to read!
As I said, it was hot. I couldn’t stay running. There was a lot more running than my 10:1 plan. At one point where I was walking, and trainer with me was trying to encourage me, a guy on a bike came up to me. I honestly can’t remember everything he told me. What stood out to me was he told me he was an Ironman. As he booked away, I pointed to him and said he was an Ironman. I thought if he couldn’t do that, I for sure could do this little marathon!
When we made the right turn, where half-marathoners turn left, I didn’t really want to. I met up with some more people from my team on the trail portion of the race. (It should be noted that I hate running trails.) At the end of the trail, there was an ambulance there for another marathoner. That didn’t help me any seeing that!
As we were on the way back when I had around 5k to go, I started to break down. I was about to do this. I was going to be a marathoner! As we were running down Caldwell Road, you need to turn left for a short distance, before looping back down Shore Road to Fisherman’s Cove and the finish line. Some guy with a French accent came up to me and told me I had about 15 minutes to finish or I would be pulled off the course. I knew I couldn’t finish that fast!!! I broke down now for a different reason. The trainer told me not to worry, to keep going. I kept going.
I ran past my team at the water station. I kept going. I came into Fisherman’s Cove. Standing there by the shops, was my mom. I then spotted my dad. I had to loop around these little stores. I slowed down for a walk so I could do the sprint to the finish. I knew I was over 6 hours, but I wasn’t let them stop me!
I came around the turn and saw the finish line. I started to sprint. I went with all my might to the finish line. My arms went up in victory. I did it!!! I WAS A MARATHONER!!!!!
I put my face in my hands and bent over. (That photo is my favorite of my photos from that day.) I hugged people that I don’t know who they were! They put my medal around my neck and gave me my “Marathon Finisher” t-shirt.
I had done it. I had done something that back in 2014 I never imagined doing. I wanted to find that guy in the start line of my first 5k and tell him that I had done it! I checked the temperature on my way home and at 2:30 in the afternoon it was a feel like of 32C (that’s 89.6F). It was a hot race!!
Future Goals – That evening as I soaked in the ice bath with Epsom salts, and sat at my desk not wanting to move (and my medal still around my neck the whole time) I was wondering when I could run my next marathon. I researched other marathons that were on Saturday. On Sunday, when my legs were so stiff that they locked if I sat too long (but standing was too painful), I searched for a 50k. After all, if I can run a marathon, a 50k is only 7.8k more. Why can’t I do one of those???