DreamBig 2012 - #6 Texas

State #6 - Dallas, Texas
Rock N' Roll Dallas
Finishers: 11,366

March 24, 2012
I flew into Dallas late Friday night and took a cab to the ALoft Dallas downtown. Saturday morning I didn't have a ton to do and Bryan Pope, who lived in Dallas, was not around to hang out so I just sort of wandered the streets alone. I had been in Dallas a few years back for a wedding so I took a trip down memory lane and made my way to the Adolphus Hotel where I sat and ate lunch alone at the Rodeo Bar and Grill downstairs. 

I made my way up to the convention center to grab my packet and then made a stop by the Pioneer Plaza to check out the bronze sculpture of the cattle drivers. I didn't know much of what to do and didn't want to be on my feet all day so I spent a good chunk of the afternoon hanging out in the room and watching movies -- and eating popcorn.

March 25, 2012
The best part about this Dallas race was that it started right outside the front door of my hotel. Even though I was anxious to start, I hung out and ate some breakfast before going downstairs to start the race. For March, it was a very warm morning but I had my adrenaline going so I wasn't paying much attention to the heat. 

We lined up and I had a stranger take my photo and then we were off. I don't remember a ton about the course, other than there was not much to look at, but I do remember slowly falling apart around Mile 4. I had been so used to training in the bitter cold of New York all winter that my body just totally forgot how to act in warmer weather. 

I had cut back to a very slow jog by Mile 5 and was contemplating if I would finish at this rate. By Mile 7 I remember calling my dad while running and telling him I wasn't going to make it. He said, "so you're halfway done and you either stop and walk the 7 miles back or keep going and just finish the last 6 mile". Touche. 

So through a mix of running and very slow running (and maybe some walking) I made it to the end of the race -- which was no where near the start of the race. Did not think about this. I decided to follow the crowds and saw everyone was hitching a ride on the train back to the start -- even though none of us paid. I had attempted to call my friend Amy to pick me up but she was in the middle of church. Dangnabbit. 

The train however got us close enough to the start that I was able to walk the last bit to the hotel. I had to check out so I took a quick shower and then tried to meet up with Bryan again but plans just didn't match up. It was a hot, uneventful race for the start of 2012 but at least I knew what I was up against for the remaining summer race.

OFFICIAL RACE PIC - 6 states down, 44 more to go! #DREAMBIG

6 states down, 44 more to go!
#DREAMBIG

DreamBig 2011 - #5 Georgia

State #5 - Atlanta, Georgia
13.1 Marathon Atlanta
Finishers: 2,488

September 30, 2011
Between April 2011 and October 2011, a lot changed.

I ended my first year of grad school and dad got me a cool intern gig in Houston, TX working for Silver Eagle Distributors which is the nations largest Anhueser Busch distributor. I was doing logistics work and loved the company. While I was there I did my best to run as much as possible but most days I could barely make it down the block before dying from the Texas heat.

Once I got back to Auburn, I decided not to go back to my job at the bank and to focus more on life after graduation and the direction I wanted my career to go. With all of the free time, I was very committed to my running and training schedule. This last semester of school I was also living by myself so the temptations of constant baked goods and TV temptation were not around to keep me from my training.

My next race was set to be the 13.1 Atlanta race that took place in Brookhaven. The Friday before the race we had an MBA golf outing and then I packed up my car and headed up I-85 from Auburn. I stayed at Michael Layton that weekend and we went out and got dinner at Gordon Biersch and talked about the real world.

MBA Golf Outing with Adam Jones

October 1, 2011
Saturday I picked up my packet at one of the local running stores and then Michael had our friends over to watch the Auburn game. I think the highlight of that day was Michael not owning a can opener and prying a can of chicken open with a hammer all so that I could make everyone buffalo chicken dip -- very resourceful.

Boys....and what they would do for buffalo dip

October 2, 2011

The morning of the race I had to tip toe around the apartment in the dark because I didn't want to wake Michael up in the other room. I sort of just grabbed my stuff and some Cheerios and drove up to the race start....way too early. I'm pretty sure I took a nap in my car for a good hour before people even started to show up.

It was a cold morning and it was my first race I didn't have anyone there cheering me on but I felt very prepared.  (Sidebar -- I think I am still bitter that Michael didn't wake up to watch me run). The race started and I remember not having a clue where I was because it was also still dark. After winding through some very hilly neighborhoods in Brookhaven I started to get into a groove. The hills were kicking everyones butt but thankfully I had been doing a lot of training on my own butt and lower body and it was just the sort of preparation I needed for this unnaturally hilly course.

At the time at Auburn, Michael Dyer was one of our popular running backs and I had always admired how talented he was at high knees and putting in that little bit of extra effort in order to break an extra tackle or gain an extra yard. Whenever I got to a hill on the course, I just made sure to think of Dyer, lift my knees, pump my arms, and power up the hill. Leave it to me to find a way to enjoy hills that most people had reverted to crawling.

The course was up in Brookhaven and all those hoods

The neighborhoods were windy to the point you felt like you were running in figure 8's through the middle of no where. Once we were back on the main road (Peachtree Industrial Blvd.) heading for part two of neighborhoods, I started paying a little more attention to the mile clocks. (I don't wear a watch of my own because my main goal is just to finish. I have bad enough anxiety before races as it is to be worrying about a specific time.) So, as I was looking at the mile clocks I realized I was coming in a well under a 10 minute pace which is my typical speed. As I started to do the math (which is extremely difficult while running for me), I calculated that if I kept my pace and continued to pick it up on the hills, I might just make it in at under 2 hours (the only time goal I had ever set).

With the 2 hour mark in my head I continued to just stay calm and enjoy the cool day and the pretty houses and just run. The second neighborhood portion ended and I was back on the main road headed back to where the race started. Mile 11 passed and I will still feeling comfortable but not confident about the 2 hour goal. Mile 12 came and I started feeling like it wouldn't happen. The hard part about the clocks is that they are never your real time. My time starts when I cross the start line which depending on the race may be 5-10 minutes after the first person starts which is when the clock begins. A tenth of a mile into Mile 12 I was still feeling good. I knew I had that last kick but I couldn't figure out how to get it out. I passed the 20K mark (12.4 miles) and on my iPod all of a sudden came Lady Gaga "Edge of Glory". At the time she had a really cool commercial of her dancing/running on the Brooklyn Bridge and I LOVED the song. So once it came on, I literally took off. I wish someone had a clock on me from that point because I was really cruising. I could hear that someone was on my tail but I was too in the zone to turn and look back so I just let them tail me.

The song was coming to an end and I could see the last little turn that led to the finish line. It was an awkward slight downhill finish but I kicked in like my high school cross days and crossed the finish line with the race clock a couple minutes over 2 hours. I was exhausted but excited that I had done so well. A few minutes after crossing the line a man in yellow came up and told me he was trying to pace with me the last mile or so but at one point I just took off and he couldn't stick with my pace (#likeaboss). He asked what happened and I just said "Lady GaGa".

I wandered back to my car to check my phone and got an email:

Ashley Ahner at the Finish point in 1:59:39.
Pace: 9:08 min/Mile

I was sooooooo excited to make it under 2 hours by the skin of my teeth. I made a video right after I found which I will track down and add to this post at a later date.

That marked race #5 AND the beginning of the "counting on my fingers" -

OFFICIAL RACE PIC - 5 states down, 45 more to go! #DREAMBIG

Race #5 Complete! I'm sure I asked some stranger to take this picture

 Pretty cool medal - the 13.1 part of it spins!

Crossing the finish line - yes, this picture is sort of stolen from offline. But you can see the clock was over 2 hours and the man in yellow who was trying to keep up with me!

5 states down, 45 more to go!

#DREAMBIG

DreamBig 2011 - #4 Tennessee

State #4 - Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville Country Music Marathon
Finishers: 22,015

April 28, 2011
After each race, I am exhausted, worn out yet still excited for whats next. Soon after my New Orleans race, I signed up for the big event that everyone in the south always talks about: The Music City Half Marathon. Anyone who is anyone has run this race in the running community and I wanted to be part of the hype. I signed up for what is officially known as Rock N' Roll Nashville and continued my training in Auburn through the Spring semester. Was it fun coming home from work, school, work again, changing into running clothes, waving to my roomie Erin and heading out the door every evening? Not really. But I knew it was worth it.

The plan for Nashville was to meet my dad halfway. The weekend of the race was the weekend before finals so I decided to go home to St. Louis to do some studying. On Friday evening, I packed up the car and headed to Nashville. I got to the hotel just in time for dad to offer up some free appetizers and drinks, as always.

April 29, 2011
We woke up Saturday morning and went downtown to pick up my race gear. Dad was blown away by the number of people at the Expo. The line to get it was wrapped up and down hallways and staircases. Seeing as there were 22,000+ people who ran the half marathon, it all made sense. After getting my bag and race gear, we wandered around a little and then decided to map out the course and our plan of dropping me off in the morning. If you are not aware of this, I am THE ultimate planner. I don't like surprises especially when it involves my running.

That night we went to a very fancy establishment called Cock of the Walk where we had fried pickles, mushrooms and everything else I probably should not have eaten before a race. But at least I was drinking water. When we got back to the hotel my nerves were already playing games with me and between them and dads snoring, it was not a good nights sleep.

April 30, 2011
I got up far earlier (if I even slept) then necessary to start getting all of my gear on. Jacob Watkins had given me a new Auburn hat and I decided to wear one of my long sleeve Auburn National Championship shirts since we were in a different SEC town.

Our pre-race approach went to plan and I shivered at the start line with all of the other racers until the gun went off. Thankfully I had already run a RnR race before so I knew what they were like with the wave starts. The first couple miles were rolling hills and dad was supposed to be standing at the turn around mile 2.

When I got there I didn't see him and later found out he was inside enjoying a nice hot coffee and bagel. Rude. Around that same point I ran into Jack Robertson from Auburn and said a quick out of breathe hello before he took off. From that point on, the hills NEVER stopped. We ran around Belmont and Vandy and I feel like it was a roller coaster of pain.

So close to the finish! Acting like I'm totally okay

Really everything was a hill - especially the finish. At about mile 13 of 13.1 I finally saw dad in his Auburn gear as well and I knew I was close as I could see the stadium finish as well. I crossed the finish line at 2:12:45 which was my slowest race yet but it still counts. You know what's gross? I am about 90% sure that after my race we grabbed a quick bite to eat at like McDonalds or Panera and then we immediately drove back the 5 hours to Saint Louis. Meaning my poor father sat in the car with my stinky self for 5 hours. What a trooper.

 Tennessee - you can keep your hills. 4 down, 46 more to go!

Closest thing I have to an OFFICIAL RACE PIC - 4 states down, 46 more to go! #DREAMBIG

Calling mom - who still doesn't understand what I do

Me and Pops after the Race in our AU Swag

The Country Music 1/2 Marathon Medal --- pretty sparkles -- 2:12:45

DreamBig 2011 - #3 Louisiana

State #3 - New Orleans, Louisiana
Rock N Roll New Orleans
Finishers: 10,272

February 11, 2011
48 more states? Man, that was going to be expensive! I may as well start small and see where I could drive.

In 2011, I set my sights on 3 more states: Louisiana, Tennessee, and Georgia

Training for the New Orleans, LA race was not easy. I had a full course load of MBA classes and 2 part time jobs. Yet somehow that made me want to prove that I could fit my training in as well. I was waking up at 5am and jogging the streets of Auburn a few hours after most people had gone to sleep. I was getting up before game days and watching the city awake excited for the events ahead. People always talk about Auburn sunsets but the sunrises are just as good. I knew the mileage around that town by heart and there was no where else I would rather have trained.

So the Valentine's Day weekend of 2011 was the next big race in NOLA! We decided to make a weekend out of it so I drove down to Mobile to meet up with Miss Vicki and we jumped on I-10 and headed West. Miss Nita and Mr. Mike were not far behind us and soon after they got there we headed out on Bourbon Street.

We made good use of the typical 3 for 1 drink specials and hopped bar to bar checking out the classy bars we could find. At one point I am pretty sure I was sprinting down the street towards a life sized grenade...I think I had had one too many at that point. We ate dinner...somewhere...and then before we knew it - it was time to pick Cooper up from the airport who was flying in from Houston. I don't really remember going to the airport or much of the rest of the night but I am pretty sure Nita rode a whale and Cooper and Mrs. Vicki carried me home.

From a distance...our eyes meet....

Hugging a grenade - such a dare devil

Just me and the gals on Bourbon Street Balcony



February 12, 2011
I am not proud of this but I think I spent 90% of the night on the floor. The next day I tried so hard to get up and get lunch with Cooper and his mom but I was down for the count. At one point I have an "ah ha" moment and texted the Geeslin twins to see what they always drank in college after a hangover. Piedalyte for the win. (This is when this beautiful baby drink and I became best friends). So after spending the entire day in bed, I realized the expo was about to end so the dream team dropped me off and I sprinted through the conference center in order to get my number successfully. I was in no shape to sprint but I couldn't not get my bib! We grabbed a good dinner and I was thankful to finally be able to eat before heading back to attempt to get some sleep after a struggle bus filled day.

February 13, 2011

As I was leaving the hotel in the morning to head to the race start, 2 girls were passing me just coming in from the nights events. They wished me good luck and told me that I successfully have made them feel horrible about their decisions (had only they seen me 24 hours prior). The New Orleans Rock N' Roll Half Marathon is AWESOME! Running through the historic streets filled with lots of encouraging fans and people trying to give you beer....ugh...I couldn't think of alcohol.

Coop and Vicki said they would see me at mile 1, 3, 5 and 7 (the course did a lot of winding back and forth for the first 7 miles). I didn't see them for the first 3 stops and got a bit confused but finally saw them at 7 just in time to throw my extra jacket, give a quick wave and run on my way. I saw Nita and Mr. Mike outside Cafe du Mond and really wanted a beniget.

The last 3 miles was a straight away and it was the longest straight away ever. I never thought the course would end. But finally I saw the finish and took off! (Coach always told me I have far too much energy for how fast I finish races -- its internal NOS).

I crossed the finish line in 2:04:45 which wasn't a PR but I was still super proud after going from Trashley on Friday to Super Runner on Sunday. This was all during my "ankle kicking" kicking days so I was quite bloody around the foot area.

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the streets and we even saw two of the guys from Swamp People at lunch! It was a very fun run and I was excited!

OFFICIAL RACE PIC - 3 states down, 47 more to go! #DREAMBIG

Pretty Cool Medal -- Finish Time 2:04:45

DreamBig 2010 - #2 Florida

State #2 - Orlando, Florida
Disney Princess Half Marathon
Finishers: 11,091

March 5, 2010
Prior to deciding to run this race, I hadn't done much distance running since my high school cross country days. When I went to college, I did my best to keep a constant running schedule about 2-3 miles once or twice a week on top of my other training and intramurals. The idea of running another half marathon had never crossed my mind.

One day I was out running around campus with Kirby Turnage and we ran into Mary Cate Dukes and Victoria Hinkle outside of the Village dorms. Through conversing while running, they told me they were running the Disney Princess Half and wanted to know if I would sign up with them. I laughed and said no way and then we continued down Magnolia. 

I talked to them a few more times after that initial invite and slowly the idea starting creeping into the "good idea" section of my brain. I looked into training schedules and the race itself and with a very strict 12 week training schedule, I decided to pull the trigger. 

So on Friday after class, we loaded up the car and head south to Orlando. Mary Cate, Amber, Victoria and I stocked up the snacks and made our way on the road down to the Dukes household who would be hosting us for the weekend. We got into town fairly late and just went almost right to bed after taking with Mary Cate's mom.

March 6, 2010
The packet pickup was at ESPN World of Sports so we head that direction with Mrs. Dukes. It wasn't even race day and I was already nervous just walking in to the convention center. We got to pick our character during our sign up so I think we were pretty split between Cinderella and Ariel in our group. Mary Cate's younger sister Margaret was running with us as well. After picking up our packets, we made a quick trip by the local goodwill to buy some sweatshirts because we heard it was going to be chilly in the morning. 

The only photo I have from this weekend....I swear I ran

That night, my dad came in town from West Palm and the Dukes Family made us an amazing spread of quail, potatoes, mac and cheese and a bunch of other food. It was amazing. It was a fun night with friends and we made sure to call it an early night to try and get some sleep for an early wake up.

March 7, 2010
We woke up super early and Mrs. Dukes pulled together some breakfast for us to eat in the car. We got on the road a bit dilerious and headed towards Disney -- or so we thought. I will admit that it was more than likely me who gave us the wrong directions and let us go way far in the wrong direction on the highway. I finally had us pull off the highway and turn around to rush back in the other direction. My bad.

We still got into the park with plenty of time and made our way through the weird back alleys of Disney to the start line. I'm glad we had sweatshirts because it was pretty cold. We decided since none of us had really trained together and we all had different paces that we would just all run our own race and split up to go to our corrals.

I was wearing a tyedye shirt and a tiara (no joke - I have no clue where any of these pictures are) so I would be easy for my dad to spot. Once the gun went off, I ditched my sweatshirt but kept the gloves and enjoyed the cool morning. I had a lot of adrenaline going and more than likely went out faster than necessary. 

So we started and ran around the outside of Epcot and then on to the highways of Disney. They had princesses and other characters and scenes set up all along the way. I saw dad right away at Mile 1 and was excited to be feeling good -- Mile 1, good start. We ran from Epcot to Magic Kingdom where we got to run through the park a little and then the castle before heading back out onto the road.

This was probably around 8 when I am running by one of the resorts with the monorail on my left and all of a sudden I see dad running down the hill with his camera out trying to snap action photos screaming my name. I was thankfully still feeling good even though things started to get boring again since we were back on the Disney highways.

We made the turn at Mile 10 and the Epcot ball was far off in the distance like a Mile an a half away. Once we got to Epcot it was only 1.5 miles to the finish. I felt like we were running in circles in the park and not getting anywhere close to the finish. But thankfully it came and I was lucky enough to easily find Mary Cate and Margaret who had crushed the race in record time. Victoria found us not much later along with my dad who did indeed take pictures but they were on an actual camera so where those printed picture are....one day I hope they turn up.

We went back to the Dukes house to clean up before getting back on the road. We all were exhausted driving back to Atlanta and I was worthless the rest of the evening in bed. Cooper brought me Sonic and I stayed in bed all night. Tough day!

2 states down, 48 more to go!
#DREAMBIG

DreamBig 2005 - #1 Missouri

State #1 - Saint Louis, Missouri
Spirit of Saint Louis Marathon
Finishers: 4,431

Starting in middle school, I made some friends who were runners. I had never been big into "going on runs" but it was what my friends did so I wanted to be a part of it too.

I was always pretty quick at shorter distances and was a strong sprinter and could compete in the mile or pacer fitness assessment. But distance running again was never something I enjoyed.

In 7th grade, along with Susie, Ann, Grace and Emily, I joined the Kirkwood Track Club Cross Country Team. We met at Kirkwood Park two to three times a week and ran with Coach Tiggs. We traveled far and wide around Missouri to run on Sundays and none of us were ever very good -- but it was nice to have an after school activity for us to all hang out and goof off.





Once we got to high school, I decided I wanted to do cheerleading (ha) for all of like one clinic and then once I smartly got over that, I decided to join the cross country team with Susie, Caitlin, Ann, and Erin. We had a blast. Again, I was never all that great but the team was a ton of fun. I had so many great girls on the team to look up to and we had amazing coaches in Coach Finnerty, Coach Harrig and Coach Harris.

Everyone except me, now that I think of it, had their short term stints on varsity but I was always a consistent Group 2 runner. We would run mornings in the summer and evenings too. We would run with Mr. Kuttenkuler who would push us out the door for our morning jogs and training sessions. All in all it was the most individual sport with the biggest team atmosphere.

My Team.

I had a love hate relationship with the sport because I still never really enjoyed the activity since I never got all that much better. But I never quit. 

Dad and Ash out at Jefferson Barracks

Junior year of high school, Susie, Ann and I decided to sign up for a half marathon. The distance seemed ridiculous but we were used to long runs so how much worse could it be. I still remember one random warm St. Louis winter day where I just left the house and started running down Manchester towards Ballas from mom's house near North Middle. I ran all the way down Ballas to Dougherty Ferry to the bowling alley way out in Valley Park and then all the way UP Big Bend to Geyer which was the longest and more than likely most dangerous hill climbs I've ever done.

I still remember half way up the hill thinking - I am not that tired. And I am killing this hill. I made it to the top at Geyer by Meramac Community College and even though I still felt good decided it was time to head home because this runners euphoria was almost too good to last so I stopped after 11 miles.

We had several other training runs over the next few months during the winter training and beginning of lacrosse season and then it was finally race day.

April 10, 2005

This was over ten years ago so I don't remember a ton of the details but I do know that we did great. I remember running around the Budweiser plant and then out towards and around SLU. We all continued to encourage each other especially as we passed each others milestones for longest distance any of us had ran. When we got to my milestone at Mile 11, we knew we were almost there.

The three of us kicked it in and crossed the finish line within seconds of each other. And that's where my story all begins....

OFFICIAL RACE PIC - 1 state down, 49 more to go! #DREAMBIG

Daddy Kuttenkuler - our biggest fan of all!