OBX Half- Forming Day 1

I've always done well when I set goals for myself. I can't just say, "I'm going to go for a run" because then at mile 1.5 I'll start getting tired and want to quit all the while justifying it by silently telling myself "you did run". Yes I ran, but I didnt challenge myself to go beyond what I already know I can achieve. I have to tell myself before I even take my first stride, "I want to run xx miles". Or if I dont define how many chips I'm going to eat by actually using a plate/bowl there is a good chance I'm going to make a complete pig of myself if I eat straight out of the bag. I have to have goals if I want to be successful.

So last night as I was getting ready for bed I was thinking ' how can I make the goal of running this Half marathon not only achievable but ENJOYABLE? That's the key! I'm not going to enjoy physically pushing myself (mostly by myself since I dont yet have a running partner) so this is going to have to be interesting, planned out in advance, and dare I say fun and running in the same sentence?! So then I thought back to the last extremely physical goal I achieved, becoming a Marine. That wasnt fun but the small goal of getting through each day was enough for me at the age of 19. The "Forming Days" and then moving on to the "Training Days", so that is how I am going to approach my training now. I have 119 days from today until the OBX Half- more than enough time. I'm going to use the first 21 days as my "Forming Days" to pick up on my miles and in general ease into the training schedule that I found to use. (More on that in a few). Training Day 1 will begin Aug 1 and Training day 99 will culminate my efforts with Race Day on Nov 12.

As for my training schedule I found this article at www.runnersworld.com and I'm hoping it will be helpful.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-258-9369-0,00.html

Any training program that allows me to start with an Easy Day is awesome! :) But getting ready for this race is going to be tougher than I thought. I never thought about doing 'speed work' or even how I would go about doing that, or how many laps is 400/800/1600 repeaters on a track? However that speed work will benefit me outside of this run also (soccer and softball teams may appreciate a faster Jen but probably not any tennis opponent I will face!) so that is additional incentive to get my butt moving and go find a measuring tape!

One thing I learned last night is my tempo run (the speed at which I run) for the Half is a bit faster than I would have thought. Basically it told me to take my 5K pace and add 35 seconds to each mile, this gave me a estimated expected run time of 2:18 for the Half. Now I cant be happy with just saying "I can run it in 2:18", no..... I told you I'm competitive if nothing else, even against myself.... my personal goal is to break 2 hrs. That's a tall order but I feel good about saying that it will be a challenge but I can do it!

OK, I'm off to begin my Forming Day 1! I'm excited and ready to do this! But first I need my kids to wake up so I can take them to the gym with me and I MUST have my coffee. As this training evolves there is a secret little part of me that wants to give up that daily habit of coffee. I cant believe I just said that, I LOVE coffee! I just dont like being dependent on anything.... More on that later I suppose. Have a great day everyone! I WILL run 2.25 miles today!