therunnerwithin

Welcome to my blog!

I decided to start this blog because I wanted to document my journey through the training process and what better way than a blog so my family and close friends could keep up to date.

Growing up I’ve always had one goal I committed myself to. That goal was to graduate college. Having succeed in accomplishing that goal, I felt like I had nothing else to work towards; and having been committed to that goal for 15 years, I felt empty and was in desperate need of a new goal. That’s where running a half marathon came in.

The thought of running a half marathon came about when one of my best friends, Courtnay, and I were discussing running the Iron Girl Clearwater 5k. I have run this race two times in the past three years. Court and her fiance, Devin, came out this year to cheer me on. She even made me this awesome sign!

Court decided she wanted to run this race in the upcoming 2014 year and me, determined to stay with the running (having fallen out of it for a year and a half), committed to running it with her.

With the running season quickly approaching, I joined a local gym to start working on my cardio as well as my strength training. I began researching races that might be of interest to me and registered for my first 5k of the season, the Women’s Running Series St. Petersburg.

While training for this race, I soon  found myself in desire for a challenge to increase my mileage. So I started looking at some more races and registered for my first 10k (6.2 miles), the Best Damn Race. Though my research didn’t stop there and soon I found myself considering running the Gasparilla Distance Classic 15k (9.3 miles), which one of my sisters, Sandy, has participated in several times. With the thought of running 9.3 miles, I would only need to add on an extra 4 miles to run a half marathon.

When the topic of running the Iron Girl Clearwater came about again, I jokingly mentioned running the half marathon (though the thought was seriously in the back on my mind) and Court encouraged me to register. As any  sibling would do, I consulted with  my sister and she also encouraged me to do it, suggesting certain races to aid in my training.

As the deadline approached for early registration, thoughts consumed my head that I would not be able to do this. Then I stumbled across this saying “You won’t succeed unless you try.” From there I knew I had do it, and I could do it, even if it took me 3 hours to complete the run.

So now I have registered for the race and have spent the past four weeks getting into my routine of training. My plan consists of running 3-4 days throughout the week with a “rest” day in between each run. Currently, I am averaging 3-4 miles during the week and save the weekend for my longer runs. On my “rest” days I incorporate strength training with weights and such at the gym or will bring out my inner yogi to help release any tension in my muscles and help me work on my breathing pattern.

So here is to the next 15 weeks of my life. I’m excited to see the outcome of my hard work. Currently, my goal is to finish the race within the 2:30:00 mark. However, as long as I finish the race I will be satisfied because I know no matter what I have accomplished my goal.