Mine is pretty pathetic compared to everyone else's but here it goes:

Was "allergic" to running as a child =P  Did swimming/biking and was always active though.

Started with couch to 5k in May 2013.

Ran a 10k in Oct 2013 in 1:05:19

Ran a HM in Dec 2013 in 2:20:40

Had massive "hip" pain in Jan 2014 - turned out it was a herniated disk (result of falling down an entire flight of subway stairs a year prior) in my spine pinching on my nerve.  Took a little bit off of running, but got back to it.  Ran HM in April (2:33) and May (2:27 - could have done better but had a wedding the next day).  On May 28th sprained my ankle in a big way on a run.  Was stuck in a cam walker boot for over a month, switched to a lace-up brace for another month.  I took two full months off of running.  I was optimistic when I first sprained my ankle and signed up for a couple of long NYRR races - which I'm now hobbling my way through.  Currently in the process of rehabbing my ankle to full strength.  Ran a 10M race last weekend in 2:06:22.

At this point I'm grateful to run at all.  I have another HM next weekend - which I am certain will be a PW.

Currently trying to qualify for the 2015 NYCM through the NYRR 9+1 program.  I only have to run two more races.  The SIHM next weekend will get me into the NYC1/2 for next year.  Ideally I'll be fully recovered by the NYC Half on March 15th.  That's my current goal.  The 2015 NYCM will be my first FM assuming I can stay healthy enough to run it.

You already know my background, Eric. But it's such a great idea for a thread! I know well most of the runners in this forum, but I love re-reading their stories. All extraordinary people. I realize I'm not so much in love with running as I am in love with runners (and competition).

 

FIFY.

You're not going to post the scrape. definitions, are you?

That is quite the story bluerun!

I can relate to your line about loving racing before running, that is exactly how it happened for me.

I love reading everyone's stories - I've known bits and pieces about most of you but not the whole thing altogether! We have some pretty amazingly tough and resilient people here

I started walk/jogging sporadically in late February 2012 just because I was tired of being bored and tired all the time. Horseback riding (eventing and then hunters/equitation) was my sport of choice all through middle school, high school and college, but I entered grad school and had my daughter in 2008 and time/money were no longer available. I've never actually been overweight but I knew I was very out of shape and just felt squishy, for lack of a better word, and wanted to change that.

In July 2012, after stumbling onto this thing called the internet :P I finally figured out that I'd been going about running all wrong - my method was to run until my lungs burned and then walk until I caught my breath, repeat until I hated it too much to keep going. I learned about "conversational pace" and cadence and all that good stuff, and while running was still hard, I could finally run 1-2 miles at a time without stopping to catch my breath. I signed up for my first 5K race and replaced my old shoes and that was that - I was hooked!

October 2012 I had my first encounter with my evil stalker, shin splints, which I only ever get in my left leg and which still flare up from time to time. I had stupidly increased both pace and mileage after my first 5K, thinking that at that point I'd been running for a few months so of course I was invincible now. I took a week off and stubbornly plowed through until December, setting a 5K PR in the process, before I finally gave in and saw a doctor. He ruled out a stress fracture by MRI and referred me to physical therapy.

While I was sidelined with shin splints, I reconnected with a college friend who had been a runner for many years and she recruited me to the club that I'm currently a member of. I spent spring 2013 building back up to running while being very cautious with the shin and doing coached pool running workouts with a few other injured club members. My coach encouraged me to come to the scheduled track workouts to do my walk/run intervals in a social atmosphere. Coming back from an injury surrounded by a group of people who understand what I was going through made it suck a whole lot less!

Summer and early fall 2013 were a whole lot of trial and error, testing my boundaries. I started to run track workouts with the club, but at a slower pace than my fitness would allow to keep my legs happy, and had a string of minor aches and pains that kept me from running more than 3ish days/week. In October I finally decided to give in, stop trying to do workouts my legs weren't ready for, and try building a base with easy miles (rocket science, huh?), with the goal of running 5-6 days/week, even if some of those days were only a half mile on the treadmill at first.

I finally came back to the track at the end of May with a base in the mid-20s (not spectacular by any means, but enough that I could have fun racing this fall without getting hurt!) and have had much more success since then. I'm shooting for mid-23s at a 5K on Sunday, am running my first 10K next week, then back to base building over the winter. Next year I intend to run a half marathon or two in the spring, possibly my first full marathon in the fall, and a few shorter races in between/during training as tune-ups. Goals TBD after the whole winter base-building thing!

Wow, sorry, that's a lot of text D: I spent all this time writing it out so I'm just going to post it!

Oski : LOL

FS : Quite a jump from 2:18 in April to 1:56 in half a year’s time.

wcrunner : 76,500 miles.

DR : Didn’t know your asthma was rather recent.

Robert : 70 lbs lost, injury free running. Excellent stuff.

Jack : Looks similar to what I’m aiming at. Not the injury, of course. The BQ on my first attempt (sub 3:25) and a sub 20 5k in the next year or so.

Zel : Impressive progression. You are living proof that it can be done.

D2 : 2 years and a half of running and are looking at a sub 3!!! Impressive and inspiring.

sapf : I see nothing pathetic in your story. You hang in there and keep running after injuries.

 

Love the thread

Yes, it took some humbling, childbirth and a couple halves to get there. Now let's see how long it takes me to figure out this whole marathon bizzness 

Running history is in two parts:

1. Never ran at all in high school, college, etc. Was offered free entry to LA Marathon back in 1999 and decided to do it. No clue about training and did not really care. Looking back I averaged 20-25 miles per week in training. Just wanted to finish and be done. Finished in just under 5 hours, hooray. Followed that pattern for about 10 years. Had no clue what PR or BQ meant for all those years. I just ran and was ok with that.

2. Decided in 2009 to see if I could do any better. Started picking up pointers online and using/modifying the well known training plans. Ran first sub 4 shortly thereafter. Ran NYC marathon and thought it was great. Later knew I was close to bq and got my first one. Ran Boston and bq'd there as well. Injuries - yes, just about everything imaginable. No headphones for me. I would say learning from folks online has provided me with some of the best insights into running/training and has made a difference for me. It is interesting reading all these accounts and just shows there is no "right" way to do this.