Willimantic Half Marathon Training- A Reflection, Part 1
Holy cow. Things just got real. Week 15 is in the bag people! That means that the date I circled on my calendar since October 30th, 2015. That is a long time to be staring down a goal date and mentally preparing.
When I registered for my first half marathon, I hadn't run more than 6 miles at a time. And even that made me feel like I was going to pass out and need a stretcher to take me home. So, I questioned my sanity a little bit when I pressed the "Confirm" key and officially registered. There was no turning back.
And then I told everyone I talked to about registering and my goal, so I couldn't back out (Plus my sister registered and bought plane tickets, but we could have made a nice vacation out of it either way). I found my training plan, bought a planner to write it all down, and then waited patiently for January to roll around. I mean, I kept running and telling people about the half, but I wasn't really "in training" yet.
Bam! January 11th, 2016. Day 1 of training and I was off! Let me tell you, it was not all rainbows and sunshine. In fact, there was not a whole lot of sunshine to be had (given the fact that it's generally dark in the morning as well as after work during the winter) but I somehow made it through. I give a lot of credit to my trusty headlamp, my 2 pairs of gloves, and my endless packs of HotHands Hand Warmers.
15 weeks later, here I am. I've run through rain, snow, bitter cold, glorious Spring days...the basic New England winter. I can't believe it quite honestly. I know I'm ready, and yet I feel like it can't really be here just yet, that I need to keep training. That I might never be ready to tackle 13.1 miles. Which I know is silly.
I've done the hard, dirty work. I've put in the time. I'm ready to cross that finish line with my sister! Here we go! Saturday, here I come!
When I registered for my first half marathon, I hadn't run more than 6 miles at a time. And even that made me feel like I was going to pass out and need a stretcher to take me home. So, I questioned my sanity a little bit when I pressed the "Confirm" key and officially registered. There was no turning back.
And then I told everyone I talked to about registering and my goal, so I couldn't back out (Plus my sister registered and bought plane tickets, but we could have made a nice vacation out of it either way). I found my training plan, bought a planner to write it all down, and then waited patiently for January to roll around. I mean, I kept running and telling people about the half, but I wasn't really "in training" yet.
Bam! January 11th, 2016. Day 1 of training and I was off! Let me tell you, it was not all rainbows and sunshine. In fact, there was not a whole lot of sunshine to be had (given the fact that it's generally dark in the morning as well as after work during the winter) but I somehow made it through. I give a lot of credit to my trusty headlamp, my 2 pairs of gloves, and my endless packs of HotHands Hand Warmers.
15 weeks later, here I am. I've run through rain, snow, bitter cold, glorious Spring days...the basic New England winter. I can't believe it quite honestly. I know I'm ready, and yet I feel like it can't really be here just yet, that I need to keep training. That I might never be ready to tackle 13.1 miles. Which I know is silly.
I've done the hard, dirty work. I've put in the time. I'm ready to cross that finish line with my sister! Here we go! Saturday, here I come!
Yay! So very excited for you! Can't wait to hear all about your weekend!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Stacey! So excited and so incredibly nervous at the same time :)
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