It has been almost 3 years now since I stumbled into running. And I mean stumbled since I was never very athletic...ok, NEVER athletic. I started out slowly and then joined a few girlfriends and then we soon had a small group linking up several times a week to run. I loved it. Then one of us had the crazy idea of signing up for a half marathon! I know, we temporarily lost our minds. Especially since none of us had EVER ran more than 5 miles, and that just about killed us. One of us suggested the Shamrock half marathon in VA Beach which is in March and I thought that would be perfect since my annual girls beach trip is in June every year and I would not be struggling to lose 10 pounds in the spring prior to the next trip. Oh yea, sign me up! Ok, call me stupid, but I was determined to do it, especially since my husband just kind of smiled when I told him our idea. And nothing could fuel me on more than the thought of accomplishing something that my husband hadn't done! Oh yeah....that fueled me on!
Yes, I had trained poorly for the 5 miler race and lost a toenail, blackened a few toenails, countless blisters and terrible hip pain, but I was determined to train properly for a half marathon. Geez, I had no idea the training would be the hardest thing I had ever done. Many times I thought I was WAY too old to try to be a runner in my mid 40's! I had been battling terrible hip pain anyway and soon was told by the doctor it was arthritis and he prescribed meds that made me feel good as new. So, whats a little arthritis?? I was determined to move on.
I researched training plans and found one that stretched out for about 3-4 months. It started out slow and I was able to build the miles a little at a time. The plan was easy to follow, but man I wasn't prepared for the time commitment. That was probably the hardest part for me! I really had to plan out my weeks and squeeze in all of my runs and never miss the weekend long run. Once the miles started to get higher those long runs on Saturday were starting to get brutal. Especially when the temps would drop to 35 degrees. Two hour runs at 35 degrees was hard on my old body. All was going fine until we got up to about 9 mile runs. I soon learned that my body is done at about mile 8. Anymore than that and I'm going to hurt all day from my run. Then throw in the cold temps and I started to dread the last few weeks of training and just wanted it over. Thank God for my two running buddies because they kept me going at the end.
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Race day came and I didn't feel completely ready, but I was more than ready to get it done and take a nice long break from running for a while. I'm not going to lie, it was a tough race. The wind and the cold was tough and I was not totally prepared for it, but it was by far one of the most exciting races I have ever ran. It was amazing running with thousands of runners! The sheer excitement of the large number of runners pumped me up more than I imagined it would. Sure my time totally sucked and I had hoped for a much better time, but I finished the race and proud of it!! Of course my first thought at the end was check it off my bucket list and I will never do it again....but never say never.
Anyone seen my running mojo????
13.1 Miles done!!!
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