Well. I didn’t run a half marathon this fall. I could give you the list of excuses I’ve let form in my head but really it comes down to this. I wasn’t ready to make the commitment. A half marathon isn’t the same as a 5k. A 5k you can just run 3 times a week for 8 or 10 weeks and be good to go. A half marathon is a completely different beast and I just thought “well, ok, I can just go out and do that.” Uh. No. But. As I was realizing there was no way I’d ever be ready and it was going to be a horrible experience to even attempt to run part of it, one of my favorite bloggers sent out a message. She got into running about a year and a half ago and she has decided to create a training plan. And for the half the price she plans to offer this training manual I could join as a “Founding Member”. This solved two problems for me. 1) I want to run a half marathon but I need someone I know I like to create a plan. 2) I wanted to get in on the ground on something I believed in. Now, this is Nicole’s baby. But I get to be an investor and a beta tester. And that’s awesome.

Thought I’ve lost most of my running fitness, looking at the 24 week plan it looks as thought I could skip a lot of the first few weeks. But I’m only skipping week 1. Here’s why.
1) 23 weeks is my birthday. And I kind of think that would be a great way to celebrate my 27 birthday. Accomplishing this feat would be me saying “Look. I dedicated myself to this for 5 and a half months. I’m healthier, fitter, and I’m about to run 13.1 miles”. Not a bad way to usher in 27.
2) I don’t think skipping one week will affect my overall training as the first and second week are pretty close to the same, if not identical, and I think I’d be ok with just one week of this training schedule.
3) A lot of my running struggle is mental. A LOT. So even if these first few weeks are “easy” from a running perspective , they will be hard in a I-have-to-completely-rearrange-my-life-to-fit-this-new-lifestyle-I-so-desperately-want-to-have kind of way
4) I am a SLOW runner. A good race is an 11:15 split. That’s not a good race. Especially because I loved running in Reach the Beach in May and would love to run more overnight relays. but my times would drag a team down. If I can start this first few weeks at a faster pace during the running and walking, hopefully that will equal faster times later
5) Did I mention the mental thing??

So. For the next 22 weeks (I finish week 2 tomorrow) I am handing my schedule wholeheartedly to Nicole and her “Bullshit free plan to go from 0-13.1” and run my first half marathon in 2013.

Now. To find a race.

Hearts and training plans!