MBFTIBMTTIF: Ten Weeks to the Half

 

Well friends, here I am, ten weeks from my first half-marathon and making good on my promise to rebrand my blog. I've come a long way since I bought that new pair of running shoes. Literally. Since February 23 (our first official day of training), I've logged 35 miles, and will complete an additional 9 by the end of the weekend. I'm pretty proud of myself seeing as I've never considered myself to be a runner before. 

I did a little research (you can take the girl out of Brandeis...), and discovered that not only is the half-marathon (that's 13.1 miles for those of you who don't know) is the "fastest growing road race distance in the United States," but that 59% of the people who run half marathons are women. Most of them are in the 35-44 age bracket, with the second highest concentration of ladies between 25-34 years old.* The more people I talk to about running this race, the more people tell me that they are currently training for a half or have run one in the past. It seems amazing to me that so many people a year put themselves through the training - mentally and physically to run such a distance. And now I'm one of them. 

So I've got my schedule, my flashy shoes, and my GPS watch is supposed to come in the mail tomorrow. But what's it all for? I've spent a bunch of money on gear and thrown myself out on the street to run four times a week. But why? I've already told you that I need some "me time". But while I stand before you as a coordinated, athletic (ha!) 26-year-old, I often need to remind myself of what happened to six-year-old Erika. As a kid, I couldn't run in a straight line. I don't mean by choice...

...but I mean I was physically unable to run in a straight line. I was slower and less coordinated than your average child. You can imagine how rough a game of tag was -- I was "it" until someone took pity on me and let me tag them. In late elementary/early middle school, my parents sent me to my first ever personal trainer to literally learn how to run. (This one didn't think I was fat, but I doubt he thought I'd ever run a half marathon either.) Now, I'm not saying this incident scarred me for life. Trust me, I know a lot of people have it much worse off than that. (Plus, I grew out of it once hitting puberty.) But on some level, it made me aware very early in life that I wasn't meant to be a competitive athlete. And it wasn't for lack of trying, but I just didn't get that gene.

But somehow, here I am, ten weeks away from a 13.1 mile ROAD RACE and I'm feeling pretty good about my training. It has been almost a year since I moved to Chicago and in the past year I have experienced some of the largest changes in my life. I feel like I've been moving towards a major goal, and adding this race to the list of things I've tried in the past year is exciting. My longest run to date is 5.5 miles, I'll do 6 this weekend, and I find myself actually excited to go out for a run each week. And still, there's more. This race has actually given me a physical goal to reach for, not just an intangible one like, "I want to audition more." And I actually think (gasp) this might be making me a more well-rounded person. You know, while simultaneously making me a less round person.

Plus, I get to drink a large glass of chocolate milk at the end of every run, so there's that.

See you on the streets.

xoxo.

*Look! There's a bibliography right here.