I'm Back

I have missed you so much. I have been busy writing, teaching, living, and running. I am going to run a marathon 26.2 miles. My training starts this week. Eek!

I ran the Mission Marathon half last week and finished with a time of 2 hours and 38 minutes and 44 seconds. Which was 9 minutes faster than my first half marathon in Dec. In two months I got faster. At the finish line of the Missions half marathon I looked like this:

 

Notice that I look tired and a little bit desperate. Why run a full marathon you ask. That man next to me is my husband and he was giddy and happy at the finish line. After we received our finisher metals he said, "We can be runners. We should do a marathon!" In my weakened state, and because his happiness was contagious I said, "Okay." So here we are at the beginning of my training.  So far I have picked a training plan that is 20 weeks long but I am terrified, live in Texas, hate running in the summer months, so I am going to modify the plan a little so I have 30+ weeks to train. Here is the plan I chose in case you're curious: http://www.joggingforbeginners.org/easy-guide-for-marathon

My plan right now is to repeat weeks until I can run the whole distance until I can run ten miles without stopping. This plan has me running a full 20 miles by week 17. That seems way too soon! I'm just going to take my time and do my best and get there when I get there presumably three weeks before my first marathon.

For me the most important part of running is signing up for a race. Otherwise I don't have motivation to get off my duff and run because the weather, or life happens. I haven't signed up for one yet but I do have a short list:

The Frankenthon Marathon in Austin Oct. 24. 33 weeks away.
http://www.frankenthon.com/



Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa Nov. 22. 37 weeks away.
http://route66marathon.com/

Walt Disney World Marathon. Orlando Florida Jan. 10. 44 weeks away
http://www.rundisney.com/disneyworld-marathon/

Walt Disney World® Marathon Weekend

 I really want to do this one but I have to convince my husband that a trip to Disney world would be totally worth the expense. Besides the kids would have so much fun. It's not for me it's for them. It's a hard sell.

Niagara Falls International Marathon starts in Buffalo Oct. 25. 33 weeks away.
http://niagarafallsmarathon.com/
Niagara Falls International Marathon
Really how cool would it be to run from Buffalo NY into Canada? Awesome right?

That is my short list for now. I will update the blog once I sign up for one or two or all of them. I do tend to get excited and jump all in. Okay, I have a confession to make I may have agreed to run two marathons by the end of the year. One with my husband and one with a very sweet friend. Now my brain is wired to agree to everything!

Now all I have to figure out is what to eat during training, and what to listen to on those long runs. Right now on my playlist is It by Stephen King I have 30 hours left of that book before I move on to the next one. We have an audible subscription so I have a few waiting for me to listen to them like Roots, Life of Pi, Moby Dick, Einstein's Cosmos, Food a Love Story, Careless People, The Count of Monte Cristo, and so on and so forth.

Do you have any running advice? Let me know in the comments.

I hope your day is filled with inspiration, love, and laughter. Be well my friends.