Half Marathon 2008

I don't get to spend much time with my eldest daughter. Stephanie lives 3 hours away and doesn't get home all that often. So I was pleased when she came to town last weekend, even if it was just for 24 hours. I knew I wouldn't get to see her much because she was preparing to run a 5K race as part of the KC Marathon. Since athletics weren't really ever her strong suit or interest, I am very proud of the effort she put in to training for this.

I'm also trying to find more ways to connect to Stephanie as she grows older. So I opened my big mouth and made a commitment to her. If she would start training for it, I will run the half marathon in one year with her. That's 13+ miles! I must have been nuts, but I started training yesterday. We have a common mission now and I'm looking forward to it.

I know this about myself, I don't eat right and exercise if I don't have motivation. I lost 16 pounds during our biggest loser competition earlier this year, because it was a competition. I've gained 6 back. So how am I going to stay in shape? Well I have a goal; to not only finish the half marathon, but to survive it.

Why don't you join me? I'd love to have you be a part of this health producing competition as well. (No, it's not a "misery loves company" thing.) My training started yesterday. I'm basing it off of articles I've found on the Runner's World website. It starts off slow. For the first quarter of the coming 52 weeks I'm just going to train to become a runner. During the second quarter I'm going to train for a 5K (3.11 miles) run. There's one in St. Louis in April I hope to enter. The third quarter I'm going to train for a 10K (6.21 miles) run. Finally, for the fourth quarter I will train for the half marathon (13 miles, 192.5 yards technically speaking.)

For now, I've trained the first two days. That has involved walking for 20 minutes each day at a 3 mph pace. You have to start somewhere and this was a safe way for me to get started.

Here's the count:
Day 1: Monday, October 22: 20 minutes at 3 mph.
Day 2: Tuesday, October 23: 20 minutes at 3.1 mph.