Fitness Achievements
This has been an incredible journey so far! Up until the heart attack, my daily exercise was going up the stairs to go outside to smoke! When I got home from the hospital, I started walking, and the doctors told me to get in 30 minutes a day of walking. In the beginning, I had to break it up into 5-minute chunks! I kept increasing the time until I was speed-walking up to an hour a day on the treadmill and then a lot of achievements beyond my comprehension started unfolding!
Every step blesses me, walk, run, bike ride, workout session, etc., are all achievements, but here are a few notable ones.
December 29, 2018
Heart Attack!
April 13, 2019
First Run
3/10ths of a mile on Myrtle Beach
July 4th, 2019
Red, White & BOOM 4 Miler
My first race and first time running 4 miles! My sister, brother-in-law and niece also ran this.
July 13, 2019
FunFest Crazy 8’s
5 miles of hot and sweaty awesomeness! I REALLY LOVED this race!
November 16, 2019
Mayberry Half Marathon
My first 13.1 miles! Suffered from IT band issues after mile 4 but I finished it!
May 31, 2020
4x4x48 Challenge
4 miles, every 4 hours for 48 hours with my friends Edwin and Misty!
September 26, 2020
Yeti 50 Challenge
Similar to the 4x4x48, but 50 miles in 24 hours! 😲
November 26, 2020
5K on Thanksgiving – 2nd in Age Group!
Official time was 22:19 @ 7:10/mi average pace. To place in my age group amazed me beyond belief!
December 29, 2020
First Marathon
I set out to cover 24 miles for the “anniversary” of my heart attack-one mile for each month. I was so close to a full marathon distance I just had to go for it!
January 30, 2021
First Sub 2 Hour Half
I didn’t plan on running this until a week before the event. It was so cold at the start but I quickly warmed up maintaining a nice solid pace that resulted in my first sub 2:00:00 half marathon!
May 23, 2021
Ironman 70.3 Relay
I had the honor of competing in this event with Team E3TRI in Chattanooga, TN. My brother-in-law Aaron Whitley did swim, Brent Baker did cycling, and I did the running.
We came in 2nd place!
Swim: 00:39:55
Bike: 02:31:38
Run: 02:07:22
Total: 05:24:36
June 2, 2021
Single Mile PR
I’m pretty sure this is a lifetime PR because I think I ran in the 7’s in middle school track. It’s not like I can go look that up online. 😆 I want to break 6:00, maybe I can when it gets cooler and some more training completed.
November 2021
Fall 2021 Race Season
Four strong races in November resulting in PR’s for each except one, but it was right there with the other one just two days earlier when factoring in the hills. All of the Summer heat training, strength training, and speed work September – October paid off. I’m truly amazed and blessed to be running at speeds that were once unimaginable!