Wednesday, July 14, 2010

I'm running a half-marathon

Ah, the lovely 5K "before" photo. I've deleted all images showcasing my sexy post-race sweatbath.


Through a serendipitous chain of events that involved a failed shoe-shopping trip and a vacant eight inches in our To Do section, I recently decided to run a half-marathon.

Well, train to run a half-marathon.

Don't laugh. Please.

Actually, I'm really excited about the concept. I'm starting my training this weekend for the Soldier Marathon & Half-Marathon, held at the National Infantry Museum on Nov. 13.

I'm basing my training regimen primarily on guides I've found online, namely this one. But if you have any suggestions, please drop me a note in the comments section.

I'll chronicle my journey with weekly updates on this blog.

A quick recap of my athletic abilities: I had a birth defect that required me to wear a special brace on my legs when I was really young. I came out of the situation freakishly flexible, but not exactly athletically inclined.

My memories of elementary school PE classes are terrible. A teacher once pulled me out of an Ultimate Frisbee game because he said I looked as if I feared for my life.

Everything changed in high school, when a PE teacher taught me proper techniques for running and made me do a 5K by the end of the semester. I've been running fairly regularly ever since.

With luck, the half-marathon journey will boost my determination, energy and focus.

If not, I'll at least have a cute new medallion to admire.