Run For It

It has begun. Tuesday Ginny and I got up and ran at 6am. We only ran 2 miles. But it felt great. Wednesday we got up again at 6 and ran 4 miles! EVEN BETTER! It was a little chilly Wednesday morning, but the cool air was perfect for our 4 mile trek. Again this morning we woke up at 6 and got in another 4 miles. (10 total for the week) It wasn't cold nor hot this morning, just foggy. Running through fog, makes everything wet. I had a mist of water all over me,.. in my hair.. clothes,.. my arms.. oh yeah -- and on my phone. :/ We use my phone to track our distance and time. Both days we ran the 4 miles, we finished in about 48 minutes. Not my quickest time for 4 miles, but speed isn't what I am working on here. It's endurance. Over the next 27 weeks (yep just 27 weeks until our first half marathon) we are going to slowly add mileage to our runs... and I'm so ready.

To be quite honest.. I can't believe I will be doing my first half marathon in November. I'm not going to lie.. 13.1 miles is a long way. I for one, am not going to try to down play its immensity. But strangely.. at this point I am not as intimidated as I thought I would be. Yes it is a long distance, but I feel know that I can do it. Even today.. yes I ran 4 miles... but I felt like I could have done more. It's nice to just break into your own stride and pace.. that place where you're just moving. Not really having to think about what you are doing, or how you are doing it... your body just moves... without much force behind it. And I love it when that happens. I'm not going to push it though. I'm going to gradually build my miles and then I will be completely ready.

It's funny to think that just last April I couldn't even run a quarter mile without having to stop and catch my breath - many times feeling like my lungs were going to collapse. Now I can run 4 miles in 48 minutes and not even be out of breath. None. I've definitely come a long way, but still have lots more training to be able to finish the MS Gulf Coast Marathon without wilting away. I'm not sure what sort of time to expect for 13.1 miles. Maybe 2 and 1/2 hours? I dunno. We will wait til closer to time to start speculating.

I do want to take a little time to brag on some people.

• Ginny - This girl has come a long way. She keeps beating her best time, and she's getting faster. She is planning on running the half marathon with me.. and she is working very hard and diligently to make it happen.
• Hank - I've been begging him for months now to run with me. As of Monday.. he has started running. He has ran 8 miles this week.. and has increased his speed by several minutes already. :)
• Adriane - She did her first 5k on my birthday this year (February 26th) just because it was my birthday and I asked her to! (what a great friend, right?) She has since ran 2 more 5k's and she is increasingly getting better & faster. 
• Jordan - She text me a week or two ago and told me she was going to start running. Just in that short time she has ran 3.1 miles (twice) with great finish times and is ready for her first 5k.

"We've got a motto here-you're tougher than you think you are, and you can do more than you think you can." -Christopher McDougall