I've been inspired

My friend Kristen has five kids and is running a marathon and she blogs her progress! I have three kids under 6 and feel overwhelmed often, I've been running for almost 8 years now and only 3 years ago decided to seriously train to run in races (5k's until I decided I liked longer runs, 10k's for awhile and now I am running my first half-marathon April 10th.

I love running for so many reasons. I feel like it adds balance in my life. When things get stressful I pound it out on the pavement or I run to escape the problems. I use to run to talk to God. I felt so much closer to him while I ran. I also run for the thrill of the journey. Setting goals is exciting especially when set and eventually achieved. I feel like running is such a mind game that takes so much determination.

Now I mentioned that I ran races before but it got overwhelming. I ran to be fast and that gets old really fast. I started to not like running...that is like deciding you don't like your arm anymore for me!! So I stopped racing for a while and ran without my ipod or watch and ran slow. It made such a difference.

So how do I avoid that same pitfall with my half marathon coming up? Cross training. On Monday I do Speed work. Aerobic intervals of running really fast, followed by a one minute recovery and then fast again. Tuesday I take off. Wednesday I run an easy run of 4 to 5 miles including weights ( I haven't had time to do the weights yet but that's the plan). Thursday I do Zumba followed by a one mile run. (Its hard to feel like I've exercised unless I really sweat or run.) Friday I take off. Saturday I do my long run.

Tomorrow I should do only 8 miles but my friend Jennifer is running 10 and it'll be nice to run with someone. The longest run I've ever done is 10 miles. I"m a little nervous to do it tomorrow. I also have forgotten how sore and tired my body gets from running so many miles.

I hope to update more on how my runs and training is going.