Setting Up Shop For My 1st Half In Springfield, Il

The day is fast approaching. The first half marathon in this 31 year old newborn runners life will be here before I know it...8 days to be exact. If you would have told me that I would one day love running I would have spit on you and acted like you were crazy.

Right now I am excited, scared, nervous, and anxious. I feel prepared but at the same time not so much! This Saturday I will have my last training long run before the big day. Right now I am not certain how far I will run, per Hal Higdon I am scheduled for 10 miles plus or minus a little bit, but after last Saturday's 9.4 mile run I somehow feel like 10 is just not enough. The plan for now is to see how I feel on Saturday. I will probably plot a 10 mile run with an option of a longer run if I get closer to the end and still feel like I can run longer. I would rather be over prepared than under prepared.

The name of my 1st half is called the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon (www.runabe.com). The course is a little longer than the traditional 13.1 miles, this courses route is 13.26 miles. They say it is a "mostly" flat course which should work fine for me. I do incorporate inclines into my training runs. For some reason I really didn't notice the amount of inclines in my training runs until I really paid attention on Wednesday when I did my 5 miler training run. I think it is good that these inclines hardly seem like an issue, makes me feel more confident about a "mostly" flat course for my very first 1/2 marathon.

I did some research and found a hotel right across the street from the starting line of the race. Woohoo! I will be staying at www.presidentabrahamlincolnhotel.com. It looks like a really nice hotel and because of it being really booked, I get to stay up on the top level of the hotel in the ritzier part from what it sounds. It cost a little extra, but I don't care much about that. I just need a place to catch some zzzz's before the race.

Another great thing is that I am going to get off work early the day before. This is great because it will give me time to get the kiddos (I have a 2 and 3 year old and a husband in Iraq) settled with the babysitter before taking off. Also if I can get to Springfield early enough I will be able to get my race packet the day before and be able to feel like I can sleep in a little longer.

The race is supposed to commence at 7:30. I am not sure how early to arrive to get into my starting place. I think I am going to try to call the race organization tomorrow to see if they have a recommendation for arriving. Personally I hope to get stay in my hotel as long as possible for a variety of reasons, the biggest is that I think being around all the other runners will make me more nervous....or maybe it would pump me up.

I can't wait to post more about the race and how I did next Saturday or Sunday. Hopefully I will figure out a place in my running clothes to stash a camera so I can get a picture or two of me at the race.

The Goal Has Been Set - 50 1/2 Marathons in 50 States

Last August I started losing weight via SparkPeople.com. During the weight loss process I started running. When I first started, I could hardly run a mile. But you see, I am uber self competitive so each time I ran I would try to run further and further. It was like a game to me. Seriously I love to push my boundaries. Within 2 months I had completed a 10 miler run. Woot. Now there I was, feeling invincible. I am a tigress, a running goddess. Ok maybe not a running goddess since I am still slow as hell, but the point of it all is that I realized I can do whatever I want to do if I BELIEVE in myself.

Yes, belief. Belief such a once foreign concept has now become my best friend. I used to live in a world of self doubt. I let self doubt hold me back and keep me prisoner. The list of things I haven't tried, haven't done because I let fear and disbelief be my ruler is way too flipping long to be quite frank. Since starting my journey on Spark I was given tools that changed the way I thought about my weight, my life, and my health. These tools have brought me to the point I am in my life now...the point where I dare to dream and believe that I can do things I never dreamed possible.

The dream....

The dream is to run a half marathon in ALL 50 States! I know that the dream will be a reality because I believe I can do it. Believe in yourself!