The stars were not able to align to my liking last weekend and thus Issue Three of The Half Times, my weekly chronicle of my journey towards a half-marathon on Saturday, November 10th, 2012, is being combined with this week’s issue for a double whammy! Things have slowed down considerable in regards to actually running “events”. I had one on Saturday morning, August 11th (hence the image above) that I will discuss later on in the post and do not have any more scheduled runs until the 8.5 mile North Shore Trail Run on September 1st. While I am loving running 5K’s and am learning much about myself in the process, trying to fit in a half-marathon training schedule, with easy and long runs, is really difficult when throwing in a 5K every weekend. I have some scheduled in October but am undecided as to what the rest of September will look like at this point.

The last two weeks have been great for a lot of reasons. I’ve worked in some 6 mile runs, I’ve run in absolutely gorgeous weather, and I have had several ‘revelations’ that have taught me things about myself. Its been fun.

Continue reading The Half Times, Issues Three and Four →

(All racing images courtesy of Dick Ross, SeeKCRun. Much thanks!)

Another week come and gone and with its end comes Issue Two of The Half Times, my weekly chronicle of my journey to train for and complete my first Half-Marathon on November 10th, 2012.

Olympic inspiration, a mysterious substance that I believe they call “rain”, cholesterol results and a night trail race–it has been a full week. Looking forward to sharing with you and hearing from you about how your week has gone.

And now, all the news that’s fit to print.

Continue reading The Half Times, Issue Two →

After weeks of running anywhere from two to four miles in my training runs I decided last Saturday (July 21st) that I would attempt an easy-paced 10K training run. I completed the run in 1:06:30 with negative splits and was surprised at how good I felt afterwards. So good that I found myself making a decision last week heavily under the influence of Runner’s Intoxication: I was going to attempt a Half-Marathon. 13.1 miles. I sat on the decision for a few more days, thinking the urge would pass, but it didn’t.

When I saw that the latest issue of Runner’s World Magazine was a “Half-Marathon Special” I took it as a sign and chose my event: The Pilgrim Pacer which will be held on Saturday, November 10th. It is sponsored by the running group I belong to, Trail Nerds, and it only seemed fitting that my first ever Half would be with the Nerds. It will be on a paved trail with some hills but no technical issues like the other trail runs I’ve participated in.

I have 15 weeks until race day and I’m going to put my one and only goal for this Half-Marathon out there to you all, my much appreciated support group, right here and now: To Finish! That is all. No records to set (whatever time I finish will be my own PR), no “I want to finish it in this much time” goals. Finishing is my goal. That is all.

To that end I am working on a training plan that will officially begin Monday and I’ve decided to relegate my running posts to Sundays during this training period and to do them in the form of weekly updates, hence The Half Times is born.

Continue reading The Half Times, Issue One →