You can. End of story.

Wow what a year.

I didn’t manage to achieve all my goals this year , but it’s life. Stuff happens , they knock you down but you get up , learn from it , move on and get stronger.

Started the year out strong , was planning to run a race every month just to keep myself motivated.

Well it only lasted 1 month. After race nr1 I developed a weird kind of pain in my foot and hardly manage to walk. I rested , rested and rested more. But it didn’t get better. So went to see some specialist. Turned out I have/had Plantar fasciitis.

Weird sounding thing. Got special insoles , been told to stretch 3 times a day and buy a shoe 0.5 size bigger.

Because at this point I already missies out almost 6 weeks of training I decided that the best thing to do is defer my Bolton spot for 2019. I really didn’t see the point even trying the race. Missing out that many weeks from an IM training is bad. Didn’t want to risk an injury or to get a DNF because of my lack of training.

In May I’ve started my Berlin to Chicago marathon training. This time I had a proper marathon training plan. All thanks to Coach Denise from across the pond. Ran 4 times a week , cross trained twice and rested once.

To my surprise I was able to follow the plan. I think I’ve done about 90% of the training.

The plan was to break that magic 6hr mark , finally.

London 2017 – 6:57

New York 207 – 6:32

So my plan was to shave off a massive 32 mins. Hard work , dedication and it seemed achievable.

In the summer I had a total meltdown at my 20 miler run. When I got to mile 19 I was 3!! minutes behind my own goal. It got me so upset that I’ve given up the run and walked home 2 miles. What an idiot ?!

Few hours later I’ve got the below from Denise :

x

Okey , I can do this. It was only a training run and not the end of the world.

Then it was September and I was off to Berlin. Decided to go with the trains. 9 hours later got there but it was so cheap. All thanks to work perks.

I was so looking forward to this race.

First time meeting with fellow Team Paws member and I literally just love race weekends.

It turned out I wasn’t mentally strong for Berlin. What a surprise… So my sub 6 finish time still only was a dream.

But have to say that I beat my NY time by 10 mins so got a new PB.

Berlin 2018 – 6:22

At the end of September I’ve joined a tri club. All thanks to Becky, who invited me.

Me , who never ever done anything like this before. I was standing at the side of the pool and looking totally out of my depth. But I knew if I want to get around Bolton I need this. I need something structured and a little competition never hurts. Everyone looked so professional. And there was me who tried not to drown half way across the pool.

Then a few days later it was time to fly to Chicago. OMG I can’t even describe how excited I was. I was in daily contact with fellow Team Paws member and I just couldn’t wait to meet with them.

Chicago. What a race. Everyone I spoke with hated the rain on race day. I loved it. I started out slow , but had a constant pace. I didn’t hit the wall. I had fun around and loved every minute of it. From the first mile I believed in myself and I knew that I capable to run a sub6.

Chicago 2018 – 5:58

I still can’t believe it. I mean I did put the hard work in but now I reached my goal it’s still just wow. 3 weeks after Berlin I ran 24 mins faster. I really didn’t believe that this could ever happen.

4 marathons – just over 12 months – 59 mins faster .

A few more years and I’ll be a sub 3 runner haha.

I have some running goals for 2019. Would be good to break sub 30 in 5k, currently I can manage 34mins. A sub 60 10k would be great as well. Marathon goals ? Well I have something in mind for Tokyo ( March 2019) and Boston ( April 2019) but it’s a secret. I always ending up putting way to much pressure on me anyway , so I keep that secret till I get there. It’s only 70+ days till Tokyo anyways so not long now.

Not much happened in the last 3 months of the year.

I kept up with my tri club swims and runs. I’m getting better with swimming , with the initial not being able to front-crawl half a lap I’m slowly getting better. Currently comfortably can manage a fair few laps in a 2:30 pace. It doesn’t look like but I love swimming. I thought I’ll be really bad at it , but it turns out I’m just a bit bad.

Tri club runs are getting better as well. We mostly do speed and agility work and it does work. Last week I managed to run 5 mile with sub 7mins/kms. It never happened before. I’m still really worried about being slow but trying not to show it. Luckily everyone is incredibly friendly and helpful and that helps a lot.

What’s the plan for 2019 ?

Not even sure where to start.

It really doesn’t help the fact when you win a marathon place ( London ) and get a free entry for a 10k ( Vitality London 10k ).

//16. January – How to become and Iron-Women – London //

//2. February – Meet the experts – London //

3. March – Tokyo marathon

15. April – Boston marathon

28. April – London marathon

10-12. May – Ironman training weekend , Bolton

27. May – Vitality London 10k

14. July – Ironman Bolton

13-15. September – Run Disney Paris

So my plan is to give my best. At the moment I’m concentrating on Tokyo and Boston. Meanwhile I also manage to get in my cycling and swimming sessions so I’m getting ready for Bolton as well. I know I can get around the marathons but would be good to get another 2 PBs and improve my marathon time.

If both races go well and I manage to finish , even if I need to crawl I’ll be a 6 Star finisher in Boston. 2nd ever Hungarian Women , no pressure at all.

What’s my plan for Bolton ? I really just want to get around within all cut offs. Sub 16:59:59 here I come.

On a personal note I hope that by this time next year I’ll be a trainee train driver. I’ve passed my assessments , now just waiting for the 2 interviews then off to driving school 🙂

Love ,

Gabi