Take Two

In case you have been waiting for the past 14 months with bated breath, I did, in fact, finish the ING Hartford Half-Marathon last October. It was simply fantastic to hear my name (!) as I crossed the finish line and to share the entire experience with my best friend.

So we're at it again. Longer time table this time, more serious training. We're aiming for 2:30 or less this go around.

We're still trying to decide which race to run in March. The Shamrock Marathon/Half-Marathon in Virginia Beach on 3/21/10 or the Alston + Baird Corporate Cup in Charlotte on 3/6/10. The one in Charlotte obviously would be cheaper, but it hardly seems very exciting to run 13.1 miles in your hometown. I could do that any Saturday morning, I just wouldn't get a medal.

At any rate, I'm a month into the training this time and am falling in love with running all over again. I love the feel of the treadmill/trail/asphalt under my feet and the wind in my hair. Also, some time over the past 14 months, I have begun to understand the concept of "toe-off" and look less like a duck when I run. This is fantastic and means that I am able to go much faster and much further without injuring myself.

This is getting lengthy, so let's skip straight to the stats and the short and long term goals.

Days to Half Marathon: 149 OR 164, depending
Days to Dowd YMCA 5k: 30

Today's Cross Training: 30 minute Tae Bo Core Express (and I FINISHED IT)
Tomorrow: REST, unless by some miracle I am not booked solid from 7 am - 9 pm

Also, I've decided that if I run 4 days a week from now til the Dowd 5k and finish in less than 40 minutes, these puppies will be mine. That is, if they seem to be a good fit when I swing by the local running store tomorrow.