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"A ship is always safe at shore, but that is not what it is built for"

My first Half Marathon - Emerald Isle, 25 March 2017


Over the last year or so I have been sick. Very sick. It has only gotten worse. I lost a lot of my hair, i was extremely tired all the time, i could barely get off the couch nor did I have the energy to do anything. I had a lot of joint and muscle pain as well as swelling and no one could figure out what was wrong with me. I saw at least 5 different doctors and not one answer, just a lot of "I don't know".
   Because of this, i slowly (and unintentionally) tapered off of my running. Last year, while active in my running, i purchased a ticket for my first half marathon at Emerald Isle. I was so excited, and as time went on i never doubted being able to at least attempt it. Last weekend was the race, and i hadn't run in a couple months. Just 48 hours before the race i was in so much pain and so nauseous that i couldnt even get off the couch! My friend, Liz was driving in from Maryland to run the race and I was so badly wanting to see her and do this race with her. The last time I saw her, we were running a 10k. That was in November. I felt so awesome running then! Liz kept telling me not to feel pressured into running this half with her, but as long as i was feeling "ok", I was going to at least walk it!
   I woke up on Friday morning feeling ok. I felt OK enough to make the 2 and a half hour drive to Emerald Isle for the race Saturday, and I felt good about waking up the next day to run my first half. I was excited, but didn't have butterflies. I was anxious, but not nervous. I just wanted to get there and see how it felt. I never questioned being able to complete the half, but at the same time, I didn't know what to expect. The farthest distance I had ever ran was about 7 miles, so i probably should have been more nervous about almost doubling that distance.
   I woke up Saturday morning still not nervous, but I was too scared to eat anything. I ate a banana, but by the time we headed over to the race i was starving. I loved the environment and all the happy people, which says a lot because i do not like crowds. The full marathoners started an hour and a half before us. Our race didn't start until 8:30.
   Everything started off ok. I ran the first couple miles at a decent pace, and i felt pretty good. I saw a man running with a flag, who seemed to be getting tired, i started talking to him to try and distract him. That completely backfired, because all that talking left me having a hard time catching my breath, I started to do the run walk. The man with the flag took off ahead of me, and then I saw Liz pass me. By mile 5, i was hot. the sun was scorching, there was no shade, but it helped to see new friendly faces pass by, in good moods and smiling. Mile 7 my legs were so heavy, i couldn't run if i tried. Mile 8.5 I was texting my husband and friend pictures of my swollen hands. My music kept stopping, but at one point they were like a ton of extra distracting noise that wasn't even enjoyable. I took them out of my ears around mile 2 when I was talking to the man with the flag. The turnaround point was around mile 7.5, and i remember a bunch of people saying "You're halfway there!" I really wanted to yell at them and tell them "I'M WAY PAST HALFWAY!", but the amount of energy that would have required made me lose that thought real quick. I was dying for the water stations. I heard that somewhere there was a gatorade station and for a couple miles that's all I could think about. I saw a GOO table and was so excited. I had never had it before but something, anything in my body seemed like a good idea. Mile 9.5 there were daggers in my stomach. Why did i eat that sugar syrupy crap!? I didn't care. I had so far to go but I was almost there.
   I stayed with a girl that i named in my head "Miss Run Pretty", because she was struggling but she didn't look like she had an ounce of quit in her - and her run was pretty! I tried staying with her by running a block, walking a block, running a block, walking a block - but even with her walk-run thing she had going on, she slowly chipped away and the distance between her and I got bigger and bigger.
   Mile 11- I was on the home stretch. There wasn't really anyone in front or behind me, I was on a long shady sidewalk and all i could think about was the finish. This woman out of no where says "Great Job!" as she passed from behind me and scared me so badly that I flew about 3 feet. She apologized and kept moving but all i could think about was the last little bit of energy I had just went into being a complete chicken because i didn't hear her coming up behind me! With just one mile to go i found the strength in me to run and just keep running. People that had completed the run kept saying "You're almost there!" but i couldn't help but wonder if they had already forgotten how far a mile really is. With about a quarter of a mile to go, my watch says i reached 13.1 miles. I was so angry because I would definitely have to walk the rest of the way because I gassed out trying to get to my fake finish line! but ..thinking about how far I had come, and how far i had left to go, i ran to the finish where I saw Liz waiting for me. A couple of paramedics grabbed me to make sure I was ok, but even with all the shaking and pain and slight bit of confusion, i felt better than 3 other times I had been struggling with pain during the race. I finished in 3 hours and 19 minutes, there were about 360 that ran the half, i came in around 340ish. Im proud to have completed this race, and feel no shame in my time.
   The next day I was SO SORE, naturally, but here I sit a little over a week later with a hurt ankle. I have broke it in the past and probably irritated it running so much. I believe it is finally well enough to run on again.
   Now Doctors think they may have figured out what's wrong with my body, so hopefully with my new medication I am on the road to recovery. I have a Diva half marathon to run on May 7th, and although I won't be in the best of shape in time for that run either, I know I will do a lot better than I did at Emerald Isle. I have high hopes to only improve my PR from here!

Run Hard,
Bobbie Jo





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Do you challengeville?



A friend of mine on instagram told be about a program called Challengeville. At first I was so confused as to what it was, but once i learned, I was so excited and just had to join!
Challengeville is a program started by Bart Pierce (read his story here!) where each individual selects their challenge distance and runs those miles within that month. It doesn't have to be all in one run, just within that month. I signed up for the first and "easiest" challenge of 26.5 miles for the month of September 2016.



When the first of the month started, I was finishing my mile a day challenge and starting my 2 Mile every other day challenge. Throughout the month I was able to complete this challenge by running my 2 miles every other day, running a mile on my off day and occasionally running a little more than 2 miles!

I was able to run 33 Miles in the month of September!



I even got a finisher certificate!




Now for the month of October I have signed up for the next challenge, The Timefighter - 48 miles!





You can sign up for a challengeville challenge here but you have to do it before the beginning of the month!




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2 Miles Every Other Day until 30 miles reached

Now That I finished the mile a day challenge, I wanted to move on to something a bit different. 2 miles every other day until i ran 30 miles. I have a very small running group where we all hold each other accountable and post our workouts for the day. This is a big help because it almost forces me to stick to my challenges. Check out my progress!

A Mile A Day for 30 Days

Hello everyone! IM BACK! I had my second (and last) baby August 2015, and took a year to focus on breastfeeding. Now that the year of breastfeeding is up, I'm back to my running! I cant wait to run a FULL marathon, but look forward to my races along the way! On August 6th i started the 30 day mile challenge that I have featured on here in the past, where I run a mile a day for 30 days. Today I am on day 17! My time has been improving but unfortunately I've been suffering through a weak body which I'm in the process of working with my doctors and testing to figure out whats going on! In the mean time, I'm just trying my best to keep my motivation and complete this challenge! If you're interested in joining this challenge, let me know! I have a small private group of 16ish ladies that are doing this challenge with me! They are all on different days but extremely motivated! I'm lucky enough to have my friend Kimberly to have started this the same day as me and she has been awesome through it all. Follow me on instagram for the daily updates!

I always like to kick start my fitness with a mile a day for 30 day challenge. It helps me become commited, start a routine, and get my body ready for running. Check out what I've done so far:


Color Run 2015

Although I was pregnant, I wasnt a COMPLETE couch potato! I ran a color run with my family! Ok, so i didnt Runnnnn per say...i kind of sped walked while pushing a stroller. 





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6 mile run




I have not been running too much lately and I am very upset about it, but I started back running a couple days ago and I still plan to do a marathon before the year is up! I have a couple 5ks scheduled for next month that I'm so looking forward to! One is a color run and the other is a glow run!
A couple days ago, Liz over at  New Mom Body motivated me to do some marathon training with her. I did 6 miles today, which is a HUGE deal for me! I have to admit, I walked more than i care to admit, but I did it! I completed 6 miles. I thought for sure I could at least average a 10 minute mile, but instead I averaged a 15 minute mile and finished my 6 miles in 1:30 exactly. I wanted to give up so badly but I didnt. At mile 2, and mile 4 I wanted to just go home and sit in my air conditioning. I wanted to give up, but I kept hearing a voice in my head saying "don't give up, you'll regret it"...or maybe that was my husband who was running with me, encouraging me the whole time. I agreed to do this with Liz, and for me, when I make a commitment I have to stick with it no matter what! I owed it to her, I told her I'd do it! Thanks Liz so much for encouraging me to get back on the right track! I look forward to running a marathon in the future. Hopefully with someone as inspiring as you.

Bobbie Jo
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The Color Run 5k

I know I have not posted in a while! I broke my foot and lost all motivation for a few weeks. In the beginning of May I ran my first 5k since the break. It was my first time running at all! I ran it in 39:52 which to me was so awful because before I broke my foot I was running 8 minute miles! I had someone watch my baby so I could run it without a stroller. Although the run didnt feel all that great, I was still happy to have gotten the run complete!

Over this past weekend I ran The Color Run and it really is the #Happiest5k! I ran WITH a stroller and this run had some serious HILLS! My time was around 33 minutes!! I was so proud to know this because I felt as if i was stuck behind slow pokes for a lot of the run! I felt great! The run was super fast I didnt even realize it was over until i looked around and no one was running anymore! I cant wait for the next one!