We’re still in a bit of disbelief: one week ago today – we each completed the Space Coast Half Marathon!
We’ve been integrating in more fitness into our travels, and have been looking forward to slowing down our pace of travel to allow for more hiking and jogging. Almost 2 years ago, we both used the amazing Couch 2 5k running program to get ourselves in gear.
We did our first 5K race after we first landed on St. John last winter. And later during our stay, Chris totally rocked running 8 Tuff Miles – a treacherous 8 mile run across the island, including a 1000 ft elevation gain and drop. (By this point, Cherie had discovered that she and humidity & elevation gains don’t get along.)
We both returned from St. John quite fit from our experience there of frequent long hikes, swimming and just being able to concentrate on nutrition and fitness. But since returning stateside, we’ve not had much time to keep on top of it. Our life has been a chaotic adventure these past few months of selling our Oliver, hunting for a bus and getting it settled.
When we got parked in Melbourne, FL last month and discovered a major 1/2 marathon was in a week – we said.. ‘what the heck!’ and signed up. *gulp*
Chris most impressively RAN the entire thing, finishing in 2:49:50, with an average pace of 12:58/mile. Wow! You can read his entire recount on his personal blog.
Cherie set out with no intention of running at all, as she knows her body couldn’t handle it without training, and walked the entire way. She finished in just under 4 hours after completing the last 5 miles with severe blistering on her feet.
The race was an incredible experience to be part of, and the course was waterfront & flat the entire way. Maybe it was the early morning wake-up making us delirious – be we had a blast!
We’ve definitely renewed our passion for making fitness a priority in our travels, and may even route to races in the future.
VERY impressed I must say! Have yet to do anything that athletic 🙂
Nina
1) Sick beard. Sick.
2) Holy crap. That’s awesome! Keep me in mind when you do those things… maybe I’ll magically get some exercise?
You guys are rock stars! Running is addictive, isn’t it? You might want to look into one of these: http://www.ragnarrelay.com/ They’re a lot of fun and all over the country.
JoAnna — Have you done a Ragnar?
I just checked out the website – it looks like a blast. If anyone wants to recruit me to be the slow link on a team, I might be game. But organizing a 12 person team seems more daunting than running the race!
way to go you guys!
*high five*
Very impressive. This puts any travel workout plan I have to shame.