I’m not going to lie, I’ve been very nervous about the idea of running 13.1 miles in just a few short weeks. As of 6 weeks until the race, the farthest I had run was, I believe, about 4.8 miles. So the idea of nearly tripling that has been haunting me for a while now.
The CCFA Team Challenge program includes a 16 week training schedule that pretty much starts you from scratch and prepares you for that length of a race. Plus, they have weekly group runs and programs to get you motivated. But I joined this race late. I joined just a couple of weeks before my triathlon, so I already had a training schedule to stick to which included a more mild week leading up to the race and another week of recovery. So basically I started training for the half-marathon about 2 weeks ago, only 7 weeks prior to the race. Thankfully, I was already in the work-out mindset from the triathlon, but that was merely a 2 mile run.
So I joined in mid-training, which meant that week after the triathlon I should’ve already been at about 7 miles (hah!). So I’ve been playing catch-up big time. This week, I’m supposed to be at 9 miles. But I also don’t want to overdo it and injure myself or get worn out. Plus, I want to keep up with my biking and swimming, as well. Having enough time to do it all has been an issue.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have a couple of guys in the area who are going to be going to Vegas with me and we’ve been getting together to train. It was helped a lot because we run Sunday mornings and, let’s be honest, I would not have the motivation to go running at 7 a.m. on a Monday without knowing there is someone else waiting for me. So we’ve met up a few times at a local middle school track. We met yesterday in hopes of running 30 laps (or 7.5 miles). But once we got to mile 6.5, I thought, “Man, if we run 1 more mile, walk 1/2 mile, run 1/2 mile and walk another 1/2 mile, we’re at 9!” So we decided to go for it. And now, I think we’re finally in the right groove. We’ve got a decent combination of run/walk, but we’ll continue to hone that. I’ll do 2 shorter runs this week and try to 10 miles next weekend!
I’m finally feeling that I can really do this and do it in a way that I’m proud of. I’m excited now to continue with our training and be prepared for a great run in Las Vegas!
So far, I’ve raised $745 out of my goal of $3500. Thank you so much for all of you who have supported me so far, both with donations and your encouragement. I appreciate it more that I can ever say. If you’d like to help me reach my goal, please visit my Fundraising Site. Thanks again!