Spent some time today looking for support on the internet for running my first half marathon. Not much out there, or maybe there is… I just couldn’t find it.

Was glad to find grandmatohalfmarathon.wordpress.com. But… she had similar trouble.

At first, after a little surfing, I was bothered. Come on, 50 isn’t that old. At least I don’t feel old. So we aren’t 25, we may be slowing down maybe a little, but at such a milestone I was surprised there wasn’t more out there. 

At 49, I’m a little slower than I used to be (OMG did I admit that?) but am committed to getting my right knee (& the rest of me too)  over the finish line of a half marathon! Keep your fingers crossed for me. Other than a questionable knee, I’m in good shape (& health). Could stand to loose another 10 lbs but who can’t. Otherwise I’m thankful and lucky to be able to take on this challenge.

A little background…

I’m thankful to a friend who got me started running about 18 years ago. Pretty athletic, I never ran for the sake of running – more for other sports. Until Mary got me pounding the pavement with our dogs. We ran on and off for years. I never considered running anything more than a 5K until my eldest son, a D1 runner, graduated from college and started running half and full marathons. After watching him, running a marathon seemed a little more doable. (Really I’m a nut… can anyone make a marathon seem doable??)

Anyway… added it to my bucket list.

Reality interceded, baby steps are the best way to get there. So the plan was a couple 5Ks, 8K, 10 miler, half and then full.

And the understanding that the road to a marathon is itself a marathon…

After a few 5Ks, 8K ended up injured last year. Too much to fast.

This time, I have a plan and a fall-back plan. Slow and steady will hopefully get me there.

Since I couldn’t find much out there, I’ll try to share more than originally planned about my training and experiences for the next fine lady taking up the challenge! As much as I hate to admit it (oh it does hurt…), training is a little bit different (read slower) than it was even 5 years ago. 

New mantra… slow and steady… no injuries.

It’s 8K to half marathon…