What a wild weather month it was in January! The year kicked off with a drizzly but mild temp start when the Resolution Run 5K on New Year's Day (much better than last year). A few days later I raced in my pajamas in sunny and 30s. However the absolute highlight was completing my first Goofy Challenge at Disney that consisted of a half marathon on Saturday and full marathon on Sunday for 39.3 magical miles. To this day I am still grinning about my achievement that weekend!
February felt like a whirlwind for sure.I froze some more, tried to dodge rain (sometimes not quite so successful) and did a little traveling. We went from chilly weather at the Fast Break 5K to fairly warm(er) temps the next week at Hot Chocolate 15K (especially compared to last year!). Before I knew it, Princess Half Marathon weekend 2019 was here and I ran 22.4 magical miles over the weekend (5K, 10K, and 1/2 Marathon) which was also my 99th half marathon. What a magical place to make magical memories with friends and family!
March was definitely the most race filled month for me so far. From running a once in a life time event testing the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials course at Road To Gold 8.2 miler to three obstacle course races (Terrain Race, Savage Race, and Savage Blitz) to the Atlanta Half Marathon and a local 5K, there was little time for rest in March.
April started off with back-to-back women's races. First was the Savannah Women's 1/2 Marathon - I felt like I could possibly PR here but after a strong first 9 miles I hit a major wall due to heat/sun and struggled the final 4 miles and missed my goal. After getting glammed up with my girls for the the first few weeks of April, it was time to get back into the mud! My first Spartan Race of 2019 was ran at Lake Lanier which was an absolutely amazing venue and course! I even shaved over an hour off of my 2019 Spartan Sprint time!
A fun filled weekend in Pittsburgh for the Pittsburgh 5K and 1/2 Marathon started off the month. The summer sun and heat came in wicked fast once May hit - time to slow down my pace and miles a bit until fall I guess. Due to summer conditions, a lot of local races in Atlanta are mainly 5K with occasional 10K and half marathons until fall. The Kennesaw Grand Prix Series 2019 kicked off again with the Swift Cantrell Classic 5K which is always a great time. I wrapped up May by running the Beignet Dash at Walt Disney World Port Orleans French Quarter. Oh, this also happened to be the 5 year mark of my runstreak! What better place to celebrate than at Disney?!?! Thank you again to the cast members that made it a memorable day!
Then there is June. June was a wonderful month. The month was full of awesome races that we favorites of past years along with some new ones. My favorite race of the month was probably Turtle Trot 5K and the all new Hotlanta 5K. That's right, one of my favorite Atlanta half marathons added a 5K this year which I got to run with Julia by my side. For those wondering, yes, Hotlanta Half Marathon & 5K lived up to its name, but Julia and I still had a blast running it together. I also ran the Summer Steamer 5K for the first time in about 3 years on a new course which was amazing. Finally, I wrapped up June with the Never Run/Walk Alone 5K where I snagged 3rd place in my age group - a pretty sweet way to end the first half the year.