Friday, June 25, 2010

Reluctantly Crouched at the Starting Line

Welcome to the obligatory, tl;dr introductory post!

Somehow, you’ve stumbled upon this blog – either because you’re my friend and I told you about this or you’ve managed to surpass the number of necessary clicks on your Google search for running shoes. You may want to click that little “x” on your web browser.

No really…

Turn back now!

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Still here, eh? Well, you asked for it.

A few weeks ago at French Night/Lady Pod (you’ll probably hear more about this later), a friend suggested running the Baltimore half-marathon in October. I’ve never run more than six miles so I figured a half-marathon would be a nice challenge. (What?) Then, I remembered something important – I’m an over-achiever. (Danger, Will Robinson!) Why run 13.1 miles when you can run 26.2?

Heh, heh, heh…Wait a minute!



Twenty-WHAT?!



And, I’ll be completely honest with you – I am no runner.

I started jogging for fitness and weight loss about a year ago when I moved to DC. It was hard not to run, especially when I saw the huge number of people who ran in the glorious northwest quadrant. So, like every other young professional, I grabbed my iPod, put on my running shoes, and went – usually with a clearly mapped route. The first few runs were terrible. I somehow let myself get so out of shape that I was winded after 1.5 miles at a pretty slow pace. But, I kept going and eventually got myself to running 3 miles every other day during the work week and completing longer runs (five or six miles) on weekends.

Needless to say, the results have been fantastic – since I moved to DC and started running and cross training like there is no tomorrow, I’ve lost about 20 pounds and am in the best shape that I’ve been in for a while. Diet helped as well, I’m sure. There’s something magical about abandoning the college diet of beer, pizza, late night snacks, and sugary coffee that does wonders for one’s health and body image.

I’ve almost reached my weight goal, but once I’m there, I know that I'm going to want to pursue a new goal. Enter the marathon.

So, that brings me here: the moment that I decided to blog about the road to race day. I’ve had blogs before. Most of my blogs aired on the side of Teen Angst in Space (my twenty-something self has since brought those blogs to a close). A tumblr that I keep is a place to drop silly links but there isn’t much substance. But, this is going to be a journey and something that I want to share with you, my readers. As a bonus, I can also promise you (hilarious) insights into my life outside of training because, honestly, there are only so many “OH GOD! WHY AM I DOING THIS!? THIS HURTS SO MUCH! I’M QUITTING. I MEAN IT THIS TIME. I'M QUITTING TOMORROW.” posts that I’m willing to write and fewer that you’re willing to read.

This weekend, my focus will be planning an 18-week training schedule that includes healthy doses of walking, cross training, strength training, and running farther than I’ve run in my life. Training will kick off on Monday, June 28. Race day is October 16.

I’m ready for the challenge.

Ladies and gents, I hope that you enjoy this crazy ride.

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