Day 1

Today it started. I began training for my first half marathon! I couldn't be more excited for this opportunity and I am so excited to see how this turns out. Yesterday I was thinking about how far I have come in my fitness these past two years.  I like to keep challenging myself because it is to easy to fall into an exercise rut where you get bored and lose enthusiasm.  I went from not working out (ever) to now I am a group fitness instructor (Zumba is my fav). I love taking boot camp classes, I enjoy boxing, running, cycling, and the most surprising to me is lifting. I used to hate weights and now I love them! I never considered myself a runner. When I think of a runner I think of someone who has the endurance of an ox and can run for six hours straight. While I can run for thirty minutes and not think much of it, I have never really pushed myself for those long distances because I always thought there is no way I can do that.

Yesterday the thought of running a marathon came across my mind. I thought about it, and knowing that you have to walk before you run, I decided that I was going to challenge myself in a way that I never have before and aim to run a half marathon. Not knowing much about this area of fitness and training, I looked everywhere I could online for different plans, tips, training techniques, and so on till I settled on a 16 week preparation plan I found. Still skeptical of this idea in general, my next search was a race date.  Figuring that I could travel to another state for something like this, I searched for Half Marathon Races 2015. I found a list that showed every race in the nation for the year and looked for a time 16 weeks from today. I was absolutely STUNNED that in exactly 16 weeks there was a half marathon in Kearney, NE, which is the area I grew up in. I knew then that God had planned for me to do this.

My plan is fairly simple and still allows for me to go to boot camp, strength train, and teach Zumba. My main running days will be Monday, Thursday and Saturday.  Today, being week one, I had to run a distance of 2 miles and then SS (Strength Train and Stretch) for 20 minutes. I ran my 2 miles at 6.5mph and including my warm up and cool down finished in 22 minutes. The run was fairly simple, towards the end I became a bit tired because I haven't ran in awhile but I was still ready to lift afterwards. I lifted legs and back after my run and called it day. Day one is complete and I am feeling good about myself!