Training for the Mini Marathon; The Beginning

I have decided to just do it and stop contemplating it.  I used to run a lot when I was younger.  I was on the cross country team in junior high and the only reason I wasn’t on the high school team was because the season was the same as the high school swimming season.  I still kept up running, even when I had double swimming practices.  Wow, was I crazy.  It may seem crazy but I know why I kept up running.  I liked it.  It was just taking off with my walkman and running.  With swimming I was always thinking about times and splits and stroke technique.  Swimming had gotten serious.  Only during the cool down after swim practice was I able to strech my arms out and glide through the water or splash my team mates and enjoy the fun of being in the water.  This especially felt good after practice had just kicked my ass.

I kept up with running because it was like meditating.  I didn’t have to push and yell at myself to go faster GO FASTER GO FASTER. I didn ‘t have to try I was just doing it.  Running was also easier to keep up with after high school.  Throwing on some running shoes is a lot easier than trying to find a pool to train at.  I think I was up to running for an hour 4-5 times a week.  But then my full time work schedule and full time university classes caught up to me and running fell to the way side.

I would try to pick it up again but I could not seem to get any momentum going.  I decided I needed more of a goal as a way to get going and help the momentum kick in.  As part of me has always wanted to run a marathon and the other part of me remains intimidated by it I decided I should try to run the mini marathon first.  13.1 miles does not seem as intimidating as 26.2 miles.  So it is set on May 2, 2009 I will run my first mini marathon.