Pre-training fun!

Ok I don't officially start training for my VERY FIRST half marathon (Marine Corps 1/2) until next Monday but I am just so excited about doing this that I decided to start writing about it anyway....I started my 'running career' (can you call it that if you aren't making money?) back in October 2008, me and my trusty running partner hubby Jason decided after running in a race my company paid the entry for that we enjoyed it and would sign up for more. So every weekend in October we ran a 5k, I would like to say it was fun, but at that point running was not fun to me (honestly it still isn't, but I do enjoy it more) I just really enjoyed doing somehting that was healthy and having Jason there cheering me on as I was crossing the finish line - yeah he's a lot faster than I am.

Well from the October runs I decided to keep it going with a 6k on Thanksgiving day, and we ran in a nighttime run in December and even got Taylor to run with us. That one was fun I have to admit, the Christmas spirit, lights and musis made that run very different. A few more months later and a run here and there then came the BIG ONE - the River Run, a 15k course that ended with the Hart bridge...that was the longest race I'd ever been in and I trained for it - though not as seriously as I should have. But above all I finished it - in a little over 2 hours but hey I ran across the finish line. Thinking back I now appreciate the training I did and didn't do becuase now I know that I HAVE to train and be mentally and physically ready for the 1/2 and hopefully for two more 1/2 - one on Thanksgiving and one in December.

So the fun (ha) begins, I have been running mostly on weekends with the 4 miles I did Sunday being my longest run in a while. It was tough, it is humid even at 8am, but I have slowed my pace way down and am able to run a lot farther with no walk breaks and that is such a wonderful feeling. I am going to add in runs on Tuesday and Thursday and do some kind of cross training on Monday and Wednesday - actaully I'm thinking about doing yoga and pilates on those days and maybe the kickboxing dvd I have. Of ocurse I have to fit in nice long walks with Miss Daisy - I haven't given her the attention she deserves with the rain and just letting other things get in the way but I'm going to include walk/runs with her into my training. I know she'll love the time we spend together.

So the journey begins - well it will officially begin next Monday but hey there is nothing that says I can't run now...