Nomination for Team Blue Mile 2014

I ran my first half marathon in 2013 - the Hendricks County Half Marathon in September.  I had volunteered at the 500 Festival Mini Marathon, handing out snacks to the finishers, and I was so inspired by all the people I saw - both walkers and runners.  Some people looked as if they'd just finished a relaxing morning stroll, while some people were limping and in pain as they finished.  But they all had an air of pride and accomplishment that I wanted for myself.

So I signed up for the Hendricks County Half Marathon, and began training with a group of runners from Living Faith Church, calling it Pew2Half Training.  We met for long runs on Saturdays, and additionally I followed a training plan I found in the July issue of Self magazine for the rest of the week - intervals, hill work, strength and cross training, etc.

Right around the corner from the finish line!

At first I had serious doubts, and I struggled;  but once I finished the 7 mile run about halfway through training, I realized I was going to be able to do it and I started having fun.  I finished the half marathon in 2:50:07, and you can find my complete race recap here.  Pretty much as soon as I finished, I knew I wanted to do it again.


Which brings us to 2014.  One of my goals is to run two half marathons this year.  I want to repeat the Hendricks County Half on September 13, 2014, but I'd also like to run one earlier in the year.  The training for it was really hard, but I liked how it felt.  Even the boring strength training made me a stronger runner.  Since the race, I have kept up with running but not the additional training, and I can tell I'm getting weaker.  Winter isn't helping either, as the cold and the early darkness make it so easy to log excuses instead of miles.

So here I am, nominating myself for Team Blue Mile 2014, because knowing I have committed to a training regimen and people are counting on me will make me get up and get out there and run, no matter the weather.  I'm still pretty new to running - less than 2 years - so I could use all the expert help I can get.

Team Blue Mile, here is what you get if you chose me:

• Someone who will definitely show up for all scheduled training and give it my all
• Someone who will finish the race
• Someone who will blog about the experience just as I did with training for the Hendricks County Half in 2013, and even more if you need more
• All our blog followers - about 120 after 6 months and still growing - most evenly split between Indiana and North Carolina but a few in other states as well
• Bonus - you get my two sisters who also blog here and will share and tweet my posts to their friends/followers as well