And So It Begins

Those of you who know me, know that I turned 30 this year. While I feel that I did it graciously on the outside, I'm still having a bit of trouble with it in my head. I made a few goals for myself for my "30 Year", one of those goals was to run in a half marathon, yep, 13.1 miles!

I never liked running when I was younger, I always associated running with punishment. You acted up in gym class, you ran 2 laps. You were late to soccer practice, you ran a lap. Those were punishments, and nobody likes to be punished, so why in the world would anyone enjoy running?!

On top of the punishment factor, I've gone through two knee surgeries, on the same knee. I know what you're thinking - she sounds like a great candidate for a half marathon - what is she thinking.

As a kid/teenager I was little miss athletic, played soccer, basketball, danced all the way through highschool, but once I hit college it all stopped. I feel like I've hit a wall, and now, I need to climb over that wall and prove to myself, and a few other people that I do still have a little bit of that athlete left in me, even if she's hiding somewhere.

SO, I've decided that in February 2011, right before I turn 31 (could I proscrastinate any longer), I'm going to do my first half marathon. I think I've picked a pretty good one to start with, the Disney Princess Half. It's 13.1 miles of flat course, littered with Disney princess, kicked off by fireworks and the Fairy Godmother. I have to get myself up to running a 16 min mile in order to finish in 3:30. My goal is not to be the first person across the finish line, or even cross it in 3 hours, my goal is to start, finish and not be the last one across the line. We're planning a family trip to Disney right around that time, so I'm hoping that having my whole family, husband, daughter, parents, brother and sister-in-law there to cheer me on will be all the adrenaline that I need.

This blog is going to be my diary. I hope to capture my good thoughts and doubts, my joys and fears about this journey and to log in my training. I'm hoping that it keeps me accountable for what I consider a huge goal that I'm setting for myself because now that I'm making it public I'll be really disappointed in myself if I don't accomplish it.

I know I can do it, I have 7 months to get there...here we go!