I'll be walking (running) down the middle of Main St. USA...

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Today is the 5th of May* – an important day. Actually, more of a milestone. In exactly four months’ time I will be lining up with thousands of my friends to run the Disneyland Half Marathon.

I signed up for this a while ago and since then, to be honest, I’ve been dabbling with the training. I had plenty of excuses: “it’s snowing”, “I’m sick”, “I hurt my knee, need to rest it”… and so on. In the last month or so I have actually started following a training plan and most of the time I do the runs I’m supposed to be doing.

But now that the race is only four months away, the training needs to become serious: no more dropping out mid-run because I’m bored, no more skipping runs because I can’t be bothered… mileage needs to start increasing, long runs become longer and short runs become faster. I need to start planning my fueling strategy, need to start running with the gear I am planning to use and need to start putting together a killer playlist. The fundraising needs to get started too. (Want to help me with this? Sponsor me today!)

I think that 4 months is sufficient time to get ready for the half marathon (and even though I've been only dabbling for a while, it has been consistent and given me a good mileage base). I am of course not going to be breaking any land speed records and my only goal is to finish with a smile (and a ton of good photos) so it is perfectly doable… but it would be nice to beat my previous half marathon time, wouldn’t it?

So the time has come to get serious about training. I just hope it doesn’t snow.

*Yes, I’m aware that in most of the USA today is a big drinking holiday loosely based on a Mexican historical event. For the record, most people in Mexico wouldn’t consider today that big a deal – our independence day is in September and THAT would be the bigger deal!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Claudia, I know I've said this before, but I am so seriously inspired by your ability to just go out there and run. And I love your honesty about it, too, how it bores you sometimes and everything. I hate running. I never get that rush of good feeling, I never break through "the wall", I've never felt excited about it. I do it because the military requires it, and I try to do it well. Every time I read your entries about these runs you do, it does make me reconsider my feelings about it and try to align my mindset in a more positive direction. Keep it up. And GOOD LUCK in your training!!
8 May 2010 at 19:31
911shazza said…
You will do fine!! I wish I could go!! Next up you'll be doing the Goofy!!
12 May 2010 at 11:48
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