In less than two months I will be running my first half marathon. Ever. Now, I like to run, but I have never really wanted to run further than, let's say 3 miles in an outing. Past that and it was too far. I didn’t see a point in it, and I honestly was never up for seeing what exactly was my limit. I did though for a reason I still don’t know why I put running a half marathon on my bucket list. Once its there and I have an opportunity to cross something off said bucket list I jump at it feet first. I was presented with an opportunity to run one in April, and I said sure why not.
Now, I am going to be honest. I haven’t trained as much as I would have liked to for the race. School and other commitments have arisen that kind of prevented me from having the long stretches of time needed to cover those distances. I am not a fast runner, so it kind of takes me awhile to lock down the mileage. But, I was able to stay in shape through martial arts, and other programs that I was able to take advantage of that fit into my super busy schedule. But, now it is crunch time.
Starting this past Friday I have been making a concerted effort to be more diligent about the miles I need to put in to be ready to tackle the race that is in Utah. It is crazy that I have been discussing it with my friends the past year, but now it's coming real close, and I have to follow through. I am excited about the challenge, but it is going to be really difficult, and I will probably lose feeling in my calves halfway through the race. But, I just want to finish it. That is the goal.
Before my race, though, I decided to run a 10k with my Greek advisor at my university a few weeks before the actual half marathon. Am I ready for it? Maybe, but it is going to be a long, grueling six and a half miles and I hope to finish it under an hour. That is the goal, but depending on the number of hills determines my will to get it to that point. So, as the day's march on so will I on the pavement around Shreveport. I will have to run through the heat, the cold, the wind, and the rain to make sure that in April I will cross that finish line.