13.1 miles

That is how many miles equal to the half marathon. So let the strength and endurance take me to this feat.

When I began my life as a ‘runner’, just a little over two years ago the 5 k seemed impossible. Once I claimed that victory on the second time out at less than 38 minutes, I knew that I could go further if I assigned the same discipline to my training.

Last year, I sneaked up on the 10 k. It was amazing!

This year, for ’13 I plan to run 13 miles and do it in less than 2 hours. This is a  bold request, but in all honesty, I just want to finish the race. I started the year off by working on building up the cardiovascular base of 15 miles. The advocates claim 20 miles is the true ½ marathon base. I will not be greedy. I will start with 15, and keep pushing towards 20 mile marker.

Lung capacity and leg strength are the cornerstones to achieving this goal. I am throwing myself into a crazy world of cardiovascular and leg training. I am building slow and working hard to avoid injury. The H.I.I.T. has been amazing during this training. Sure, it is only January, but I will likely run several 10 k this spring before the summer heat pushes me back into early dawn outdoor runs and treadmill training sessions. It is all good. The fall has been my traditional season to race the ‘new’ race and I plan to continue that tradition.