Marathon on My Mind
My life is kind of like a totally unique version of "Mission Impossible," (at least...I think. I've never actually seen any of the movies!) - trying to accomplish the "impossible."
Out of my 21 years, I've always said I would never run any sort of marathon. Half or full! I mean running - BLECH! Who wants to do that?! I don't even like to drive 26 miles, let alone run it. Two summers ago my mind started to change about the half marathon - and I committed to run and finish the Raleigh Rocks race on April 1, 2012. I trained alone for months and I finished with a time that I was quite satisfied with. Through that, I found a passion I never even gave a second thought to...a stress-relieving, confidence-booster, alone-time to regain my inner strength - running.
Even still, I claimed myself to only be "half crazy" and with my dad signed up for (and am now training for) another half marathon in April. My parents thought I was crazy signing up for the race a month(!) before the end of school and the wedding. But in my mind, when I'm training is when I'm happiest - it "fills my cup" (referring to a sermon many years ago at Crosspointe) and gives me strength for everything else. Plus my dad must have not thought I was too crazy since he decided to run it with me :)
I do believe that too much of anything can cause an addiction, and I'm afraid around September running began to contaminate my mind. "You could do a half marathon," it told me through the hills of Raleigh, "if you put your mind to it, you can do a full one too!" Hmm. 26.2 miles is a heck of a lot longer than 13.1...but then again, I thought it was near impossible to even run that much...yet I did. And it's my proudest accomplishment (I never was much of an athlete!). I've been reading blogs of women who have accomplished the impossible, who survived it, and continue to do more. I also found this website, http://www.marathonrookie.com/, which has many resources, tips, encouragement, etc. to help this dream become a reality. It even told me while training 65% of my diet needs to be carbs (and protein) - HELLOO who could pass that up?! I am the biggest carbs lover you will ever meet - totally a reason to run a marathon.
I have decided not to sign up for a marathon until after the honeymoon, but I am considering running one in the late fall (City of Oaks). It is so time consuming to train, yet if I've made it to a half-marathon I suppose I'm halfway there! So from now until then, while I'm training for my "half," my mind is mentally training for the "full."
Out of my 21 years, I've always said I would never run any sort of marathon. Half or full! I mean running - BLECH! Who wants to do that?! I don't even like to drive 26 miles, let alone run it. Two summers ago my mind started to change about the half marathon - and I committed to run and finish the Raleigh Rocks race on April 1, 2012. I trained alone for months and I finished with a time that I was quite satisfied with. Through that, I found a passion I never even gave a second thought to...a stress-relieving, confidence-booster, alone-time to regain my inner strength - running.
Even still, I claimed myself to only be "half crazy" and with my dad signed up for (and am now training for) another half marathon in April. My parents thought I was crazy signing up for the race a month(!) before the end of school and the wedding. But in my mind, when I'm training is when I'm happiest - it "fills my cup" (referring to a sermon many years ago at Crosspointe) and gives me strength for everything else. Plus my dad must have not thought I was too crazy since he decided to run it with me :)
I do believe that too much of anything can cause an addiction, and I'm afraid around September running began to contaminate my mind. "You could do a half marathon," it told me through the hills of Raleigh, "if you put your mind to it, you can do a full one too!" Hmm. 26.2 miles is a heck of a lot longer than 13.1...but then again, I thought it was near impossible to even run that much...yet I did. And it's my proudest accomplishment (I never was much of an athlete!). I've been reading blogs of women who have accomplished the impossible, who survived it, and continue to do more. I also found this website, http://www.marathonrookie.com/, which has many resources, tips, encouragement, etc. to help this dream become a reality. It even told me while training 65% of my diet needs to be carbs (and protein) - HELLOO who could pass that up?! I am the biggest carbs lover you will ever meet - totally a reason to run a marathon.
I have decided not to sign up for a marathon until after the honeymoon, but I am considering running one in the late fall (City of Oaks). It is so time consuming to train, yet if I've made it to a half-marathon I suppose I'm halfway there! So from now until then, while I'm training for my "half," my mind is mentally training for the "full."
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