37 and counting...

No, this isn't days till the 1/2...but rather my age today. Er, yesterday. Yep, I turned 37 yesterday. I took the day off.  I went for a run. 2.5 miles. A training run. It was GREAT! I love running in the mornings. I love running. It was an enlightening run. I ran west while the sun was rising and ran east after it had come up a little. It was BEAUTIFUL!  I recollected where I have been the last few years and where I am going in the next few years. I've come a long way. Not exactly where I want to be, but I am a LOT closer. And that is good.

If I had been asked last year where I thought I'd be in a year, I don't think I would have said "training for a 1/2 marathon". Heck I don't know what I would have said. I know last year I was nursing a hangover. This year, I was nursing my plantar facetious. But I'm okay with that because it means I am doing something that hurts, but will feel good.

So, where will I be next year, probably training for this same 1/2 marathon. Why not. Maybe it will become the 1/2 that I just "do". Like the 5k in town that I do every 4th of July because it's my Independence Day Run. The one that sets me free and opens the door to the possiblities that I never knew I had.

Happy 37th Birthday to Me.

A little bit more about me...

I do not look like a runner. I probably do not run like a runner. I am not fit like a runner. But I am BECOMING A RUNNER!  I committed myself to a healthier lifestyle in 2012. Sure, I've said and done that before. But this year was/is different. I was moody. Depressed. Just felt BLAH!  So I called my son's first grade teacher, from about 5 years ago, because she had posted on her FB page about this product called AdvoCare. Weight loss. Healthy Living. The whole thing. Started on the 24 Day Challenge and within 2 days, I was completely hooked. After the 24 days, I had lost 18 pounds. But it wasn't just the weight. It was how I felt mentally. Emotionally. And of course, physically. It was like I was a new person! Mind, body, and soul. Sure, I thought I had just joined some "cult" and maybe I have, but I'm telling you what, I feel like I can do anything now! And anything includes this 1/2 marathon. Yes, she and a mutual friend, presented me and my best friend with this colorful training plan to train for the 1/2. And we bought right into it.   Not because of them saying that we could do this, but because we KNOW we can do this.

But even in knowing that I can do this, there is still the fear of doing it. The fear that I won't finish before they close the route. The fear that I will just pass out and die on the streets of Columbus, OH. The fear that I am not going to be physically ready. And the biggest fear right now....THE FEAR THAT I AM NOT TRAINING ENOUGH!!!

I will do this. I can do this. 

Here goes nothing...or is it EVERYTHING!

A friend recommended I start blogging about my 1/2 Marathon training as a way to release some of my fears, trepidations, excitement, and well, nervousness. All these feelings come barreling out of me around 7pm each night after dinner has been made/eaten/cleaned up, laundry is going, son's homework is done, you know, all the things a single parent has to accomplish after working 9 hours and then coming home to the next job of the P-A-R-E-N-T.  And it's then at 7pm when I say to myself  "oh, I need to go run/exercise. I have a half marathon to complete in 72 days and counting and I am only on week 2!" I have to convince myself, and with the help of said friend, that I need a rest day. But how does one rest when all one can think about it not finishing the 13.1 miles???  Sure, rest my legs. But how do you rest the mind when thoughts of not finishing plague your every thought? How do I turn off the mind and let it rest? I tell myself, I did exercise today. I did weight training. But my arms don't hurt. I should go run. My legs need to hurt. No pain, no gain. But wait. Do I really want to hurt? No. Not to the point of injuring myself. 

So, I tell myself...tomorrow, tomorrow you go run. And I will. And it will be a better 3 miles than I could have done the night before.

Yeah, right.