Happy Wednesday y'all! I am super excited to announce that our June athlete spotlight is the incredible @Kristine Owen Wood! Kristine is always one of the first to cheer others on and I think I speak for all of us when I say the Friday polls are always amazing and make me really think about myself as a runner (and a person lol). Thank you for being an important part of this community, Kristine! And be sure to check out her full interview: https://www.myfirstmarathon.co/post/first-marathon-buddy-program-athlete-spotlight-meet-kristine-owen-wood

What’s your training tip of the day?! Mine is to freeze 1/2 your water before a hot run so it slowly melts as you go! Don’t sleep on freezing your gels either!!

Shout out to @Emily Bailey for the idea and for collecting a list of everyone's upcoming marathons! You'll now find any upcoming milestones on the calendar, if I'm missing any please feel free to comment and I will add them :). You'll also see the name of the community member running the race in the invite so you know who to cheer on! I plan to add to add tracking and bib numbers for those who are comfortable sharing as we get closer! Upcoming races are: ⦁ @Caitlin Palmieri Jackson - NYC Marathon 2026 - November 1, 2026 ⦁ @Audra Hahle - Phoenix Marathon - December 12, 2026 ⦁ @Shawna Delellis - Philadelphia Marathon - November 22, 2026 ⦁ @Annika Olson - Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon - Oct 4, 2026 ⦁ @Dom OBrien - TCS Sydney Marathon - August 30, 2026 ⦁ @Cristina Boose - Every Woman's Marathon 2027 - February 28, 2027 ⦁ @Alison Jones - Boulderthon Marathon - September 27, 2026

I was going for an even better pace record (because you know how us runners are lol). But I am super happy with what I accomplished today. I beat my last half marathon by 13 minutes! I will take it! I felt awesome and put the work in so my finish was just perfect for me. Now onto Bigger goals, FULL MARATHON IN DECEMBER! 😱 Thank you to this group for so many amazing suggestions.

Morning morning crew! A little motivation for your Mon-I mean Tuesday :) The marathon itself is just one day. It's the three or four months leading up to it where the real work happens, where you figure out what you're made of, where you learn what your body needs and how to keep showing up even when you don't feel like it. If you don't follow a plan or train consistently, it's just not as satisfying to finish, because for a first timer the marathon is really about that training journey. Looking back at weeks of runs you never thought you could do and saying, I did that. That's the thing you carry with you long after the medal is hanging on your wall! So if you're in the thick of it right now, wondering why you're even doing this, just know from a bunch of us on the other side that YOU ARE IN the hard part, and that's the part that matters the most!! Go crush this week!