The life of a runner...

In May of 2011, I ran my first 5K race. I had always wanted to try running and I finally decided to give it a go. I remember it being so hot and humid on that day and me thinking 3 miles was a really long way. But I made it through the race and didn't die.

Flash forward to January 2012. I ran the 5K race that goes with the Chevron Houston Marathon and the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. That year, all 3 races were on the same day. It was at this race that I decided that the following year, I was going to be running the half-marathon with all those crazy people. I loved the feeling of the race. The excitement. Everyone cheering you on. And the bling you get when you finish doesn't hurt either.

So in 2012, I ran a few races. I signed up for the lottery and didn't get in. So I raised $500 to get an entry into the race. I didn't train for it like I should have and many times thought about deferring to the next year. But I couldn't because all my friends had donated money and I didn't want to let them down. Until race day, the most I had ever run was 10 miles. And I had only done that once. I figured 13.1 couldn't be much different than 10. Well, I was wrong. On race day, it was almost freezing and pouring down rain. But I made it through and finished in 3:03:38. My goal was 3:00:00 so I missed it by just a little. All year long I have thought about those 3+ minutes and wondered what I could have done differently to get under that 3 hour mark.

So when the registration came around this past summer to sign up, I entered the lottery and this year actually got an entry into the race! I was so excited! I vowed to myself that I would actually train for the race this year. So I signed up for a half marathon in New Orleans in October to see if I was still up for running. This race was miserable. It was 80 degrees, humid, and I pretty much had to walk the last 4 miles because my foot was killing me. SO after that race, I got a little discouraged.

But seeing people posting about their training has gotten me motivated and I actually trained this year for the half. I've done several long runs (7,8,9,11 miles) and feel a little more prepared. I had a cold for about the first week of January so I missed my last long run which has kind of freaked me out. But I've been sticking to it. I did 5 miles last Sunday and felt pretty good about it. I have 2 more short runs this week before running 13.1 on Sunday.

I've set some goals for this year's race. Given that it will be my 3rd half marathon and I know what to expect, I felt like putting some goals on paper was appropriate.  

-finish in under 3 hours which is a little over a 13 min pace (Not a really fast pace but it's 1 min faster than last year- baby steps people)
-stick to my run 9 mins, walk 1 min pace
-enjoy the race (last year was so miserable that it was hard to enjoy, I just wanted to finish)

Now that we're about 4 days out from the race, I'm starting to get a little nervous. Just writing this post makes me nervous. But, I know that I'm as prepared as I'm going to be and I'm really excited for the race. Can't wait to post about it next Monday!