Half Marathon Training

I began my half marathon training this week.  Here are my thoughts:

1.  I think it sounds totally bad-ass to say I'm training for a half marathon.

2.  I immediately feel guilty when people look impressed, because Week 1 is so easy- 3 mi, 2 mi, 3 mi, 4 mi.  It's really not a big deal.  I am so tempted to jump ahead, but I'm going to go slow and do this right.  

3.  I still haven't found a half marathon to run yet.  I was going to do the one in Nashville, but Anne said that Mile 2 is all uphill.  No thank you.  I can't afford to travel too far, and I'll be gone all summer.  (OMG, I just thought of something.  This summer, I can go trail running FOR REAL.  That's what started this all.  One of my happiest moments on my trip was an unplanned 5 mile hike I took before dinner one night at King's Canyon NP.  I was way up high on this ridge in the Sierra Nevadas, and the trail was relatively flat.  It wound in and out of pine trees, give me views of the valleys on each side of me.  I was completely alone.  And I just took off running.  My feet felt light, my hair was flying behind me, and I was overwhelmed with joy.  THIS summer, I'll be able to run for more than 30 seconds at a time.  I can't wait.  Now that's all I can think about...)   

(My view while running that day...)

Oh yeah, back to half marathons... There's one in Chicago on March 18 that I might do.  The timing should be perfect; I should be ready by then.  

4.  I feel like I have a lot of nerve to say I'm going to do a half marathon.  Like, who do I think I am?  I am not an athlete.  I will never be good at running.   I need to keep reminding myself- "Eshet Chayil!"

5.  I've had trouble motivating myself to run this week.  That saying about getting yourself out the door being the hardest part is so true!  I'm always glad I did it; I don't know why it's so hard!  I've found that I have to plan for it to be part of my day; it has to be on my schedule.  

6.  I read somewhere that cold weather makes you run faster and scoffed at that.  It didn't make sense to me.  And then, when I did my 3 mile run on Sunday, RunKeeper said my pace was like, 12:30.  Nancy immediately commented on the RunKeeper website, and I told her it was an error.  There was no way I was running that fast.  Maybe a little over 13 min miles, but RunKeeper must have malfunctioned.  Last night, the wind chill was 26 degrees and I had to do 2 miles.  I'm never in a hurry; I always go slow because I'm afraid that, if I go too fast, I won't be able to finish.  So I was taking my time, just enjoying my run (because 2 miles feels so easy now!), and all of a sudden it was done and my pace was 12:17!  What the what?  Apparently RunKeeper has been telling the truth!  I told Jason to watch out because I'm going to kick his ass at our FreezeFest 5k. (Which isn't actually going to happen, I just like to talk about it.  Because a) Why waste energy on running when there are canyons nearby?  b) I don't want a super athlete like Jason seeing me run.  It was embarrassing enough running with Joe!  c) I think there will be hills in Utah!)  Anyway, the point is that I actually don't mind the cold.  Seriously, what has come over me?  I feel like Derek Zoolander: