My Brother and I

Wow, running with someone is a lot more fun than running alone!

Don't get me wrong I love the solitude of running alone. I love the time to think. I love the time with no outside interruptions (except for the occasional rude driver). I think I still even PREFER running alone, but running with a partner, my brother, for the first time was great!

Right after I finished my Half Marathon about a week ago he told me he wanted to do a half with me. Because we live in Minnesota and part of living in the north is dealing with winter, I didn't want a race later than early November, and since Jason is a new runner, I wanted to give him time to train enough to be prepared, so I knew it couldn't be earlier than late October. I chose the Wisconsin Dells Half Marathon which is on October 24^th mainly because we get some great stuff including long sleeve shirt, winter hat, winter gloves, and a medal for finishers. I know that 2 months is not very long to give Jason to get ready for the race but with our background in sports I expect him to do quite well. 

I have already told him, both during training and during the race I'm not going to leave him on his own. I have no desire to run a fast half this time, so I am thinking about slowing down about 5 steps before the finish to let him finish ahead of me, but it also sounds really cool to finish side by side. 

Anyway back to our first run together, Even though we ran quite a bit slower, somewhere around 10:00/mile, than I am used to running 4.5 miles to accommodate his slower pace I feel like the miles went by quicker. I guess having him there acted as a distraction. Another benefit is that running at the slower pace for him forced me to run at the “easy” run pace I was supposed to be running at anyway. I seem to have a problem running slower than I know I can, presumably because of the mentality I've had drilled into me by different coaches from the various sports I've been involved in. My whole like I've always wanted to know that every workout i gave it everything I could. I used to love throwing up at the end of a run because I felt like that meant I had worked out hard. Of course now I know it just means I either ate wrong or drank wrong. 

Almost the whole run I talked about things I had learned about running, about my race, explained about water stops, pace setters, and a few random things along the way. I was pleasantly surprised at how little talking affected my breathing. 

right around mile 3 1/2 we had a driver passing us ask if we wanted a ride. I couldn't help but crack up. our clothes were clearly running clothes, my shirt even said "half marathon", so I don't understand why anyone would think we would want a ride. so i chuckled and politely said no thank you, and that we like running. 

Didn't make the Team in Training Trial Run

Clearly from the title I didn't make the trial training run.

My excuses are, I didn't get to bed early enough Saturday night, it would have been a 40 minute drive to get to the run, blah blah blah. basically i just didn't feel like doing it. I am still hoping to go to the Saturday run this week, but we will have to wait and see.

I do think I have decided that 3,500 is just too much for me to commit to raising, so I wont be running the Rock and Roll half Marathon with Team in Training. I am still very interested in running the next season with Team in Training for the Minneapolis Full Marathon, which as I said before would have a minimum donations raised of only $1,500. I have also decided that even if I don't sign up for Team in Training I am going to run the Minneapolis Marathon. The only concern I have is that it is 6 days prior to my wedding. 

Well I guess I can cross that bridge when I get to it. 

Team in Training Meeting

At last I have been to the much anticipated informational meeting with Kim from Team in Training. When I got there I easily found her by her tell-tale purple t-shirt and sat down at the table. After brief pleasantries she covered mostly the information that I had already found out by online research. It is a great way to help out a good cause, they will help me with fundraising, they will coach me for the running, group runs are fun, lots of fun people that are very social, etc. She also informed me that one of the current races they are training for is the PF Chang Rock n Roll Half and Full Marathon in Arizona.

The only problem is the minimum donations I would have to raise is $3,500. Since the race is in January, that would give me 5 months to raise it. I don't know if I can commit to that. Especially since most of my contacts are Christians and donate to foreign missions trips, or are college students (read poor). I am not sure if I would be able raise that much from my friends and family. The other fundraising options would be to hold events, get donations from strangers (by posting info in coffee shops, bakeries, etc) or to get corporate sponsors.

She also told me that if I waited till next season, starting in February, they would be training for the Minneapolis Marathon and the minimum is only $1,800. I can't decide if I should wait and start out with a more manageable goal, or if I should just go for it.

 I am going to attend a trial group training session and talk to the running coach about ideas for fundraising and how realistic he thinks it is for me. Another issue with next season is the race would be the week before my wedding so I don't know if that is such a good idea. Well I will mull it over and make a decision. Either way I will keep blogging, and keep running.

A Week for Recovery?!

I have heard you are supposed to take a week off after running a half marathon.

I just went for a run 4 days after my race. I had intended to actually take a week off, but i just couldn't do it. I missed running too much! WOW! if you had told me 5 months ago that I would go crazy taking 4 days off from running i would have laughed in your face. 

When i left i promised myself i would take it easy and go for a nice slow 4 miler. It turned into a 7:12/mile 4 miler. I know i should have taken it easy, but i just couldn't do it. And it felt REALLY good. 

What do you think? should i have taken the time off? 

Running for a Reason

3 days ago I finished my first Half Marathon!!!

The thought to run a half marathon first entered my head around 3 months prior to the race. I felt like I hadn't really pushed myself lately and wanted to do something challenging. At that point I had never run more than 3 miles. 13.1 seemed nearly impossible, but nearly impossible is exactly what I was looking for. I did quite a bit of research on different races and selected the Gopher to Badger Half Marathon. I officially entered the race before I even bought running shoes.

Although I initially thought it would likely be a one time thing, as I began training I soon realized how much I was looking forward to my runs, and how they were becoming an important part of my life. It was about 1 month before the race when I had the realization "I AM A RUNNER".

As soon as I finished the Gopher to Badger Half on Saturday, August 14th, 2010 I knew I had started a habit that would last for life. While laying on the grass, totally exhausted, just passed the finish line I told Amede, my soon to be fiance, I couldn't wait to do another one. Not for one second did I doubt I would continue in this new found hobby/lifestyle. The exhaustion and pain could not compete with the exhilaration, and sense of accomplishment.

About 1 week before the race, I was talking with Amede about running, and she suggested I look into TEAM IN TRAINING. For those of you who don't know, Team in Training is an organization through which athletes can run and raise funds for leukemia and lymphoma research. As I did research on Team in Training it didn't take me long to determine that I was going to run for a world without cancer, for just one leukemia patient to be cured, for some child going through treatment to know he was special for just one day.

Thursday I am going to a meeting with Team in Training. I don't know what to expect but I have very little doubt that I will be signing up. I am very excited, which is why I am starting this blog. I hope this blog inspires in two ways. First, to inspire someone to start running, to enter their first 5k, to challenge yourself to set a new PR, or whatever it is to push yourself just a little bit. Second, to inspire to do something to make this world a better place, whether it is to help by donating to find a cure, volunteering, or offering to grocery shop for an elderly neighbor.