Six years ago my good friends Marishell and Andrea inspired me to start running. I began a simple little program to train for a 5K. For those Americans reading this, that is a 3.1 mile race. My program was really easy. Basically I ran about 4 or 5 times a week for 20 minutes. The first week I ran 1 minute and then would walk 1 minute. The second week I ran 2 minutes and walked 1 minute. Eventually I was running 10 minutes with a 1 minute break, then I was running for 20 minutes nonstop!
In the summer of 2003 I lost about 30 pounds and ran in 4 or so races. My first race was a 1 mile fun run while Mari and Andrea ran a 10K. I came in 5th place and brought home a little mug saying "5th Place." I still use it! I ran a 2 mile bridge run and was the second place female but there were no awards for that one. Boo. I still have all of my race bibs. It was a great summer.
Then, as luck would have it, I got sick and had mono. Being under the weather, planning a wedding, and in the middle of winter, I stopped running. And I gained weight. I was a chubby bunny for sure!
In the summer of 2003 I lost about 30 pounds and ran in 4 or so races. My first race was a 1 mile fun run while Mari and Andrea ran a 10K. I came in 5th place and brought home a little mug saying "5th Place." I still use it! I ran a 2 mile bridge run and was the second place female but there were no awards for that one. Boo. I still have all of my race bibs. It was a great summer.
Then, as luck would have it, I got sick and had mono. Being under the weather, planning a wedding, and in the middle of winter, I stopped running. And I gained weight. I was a chubby bunny for sure!
Now, 6 years later, my workouts have consisted of lots of time on the elliptical machine in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 I participated in a 4 week Boot Camp three or four times. And I went to spin class like a fiend! Now, 2009 dawned with me ready to find a personal legend.
I decided that my personal legend was going to be running in the Country Music Half Marathon. I love remembering the excitement of race day. The challenges. The crowds of people. And the fun times with my gals after we finished running. I have been missing it for six years! My great friend Melanie and I have been following a simple 12 week program for beginners. I am amazed that in four weeks we have run 37.5 miles! We have a 3.5 mile run this afternoon and that will put us over 40 miles this month!
The Half Marathon is a big deal. 13.1 miles. Since I wasn't running before we started the training, the idea of running the whole thing is daunting. So my goal for this race is not a time issue. I am not telling myself that I want to run it in 3 and a half hours or anything like that. My goal is to simply finish. If I have to walk here and there, I am totally ok with that. I just want to do it!
Our run yesterday was a nice, easy run. We only had to run 2 miles. And we rocked it out! We ran 1.5 without stopping. We walked a short distance (it was hilly!) then finished strong! I am so proud of us!
Another motivation for me has been my Nike+ that Ellis bought me for my birthday in January. It is a little microchip that you attach to your running shoe. Then there is a little plug that I attach to my Nano. It sends data back and forth and tracks our distance, time, speed, and calories burned. Then, I load the info to the Nikeplus.com website. It has been great to see all of our runs and watch our progress. Check out my "Mini Me" at the bottom of this blog to see my progress!
The Half Marathon is a big deal. 13.1 miles. Since I wasn't running before we started the training, the idea of running the whole thing is daunting. So my goal for this race is not a time issue. I am not telling myself that I want to run it in 3 and a half hours or anything like that. My goal is to simply finish. If I have to walk here and there, I am totally ok with that. I just want to do it!
Our run yesterday was a nice, easy run. We only had to run 2 miles. And we rocked it out! We ran 1.5 without stopping. We walked a short distance (it was hilly!) then finished strong! I am so proud of us!
Another motivation for me has been my Nike+ that Ellis bought me for my birthday in January. It is a little microchip that you attach to your running shoe. Then there is a little plug that I attach to my Nano. It sends data back and forth and tracks our distance, time, speed, and calories burned. Then, I load the info to the Nikeplus.com website. It has been great to see all of our runs and watch our progress. Check out my "Mini Me" at the bottom of this blog to see my progress!
1 comment:
YAY! I am so proud of you T!
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