Tinkerbell 1/2 Marathon weekend - Just 13 short days!

Tinkerbell 1/2 marathon starts in just 13 more days. That is how many miles I will be running/walking come next Sunday. I am super excited to be running in my second Disney half marathon. I'll tell you a little story about how I started this running thing.

I started running last year about this time. My sister ran a full marathon - that's 26.2 miles folks, on foot, in San Antonio.  Talk about inspiring. Well, HE-double hockey sticks, if she can do it, I can too. I am not sure which part of my brain thought THAT was a good idea. My sister has no kiddos, my sister has a "regular job"- translation: a 9-5 job with weekends off. My sister is still her high school weight. My sister does not live in the land of ice and snow and my sister has a running group to help her get her booty on the road. Let's see how many things I have going for me....kids, three of them, job - 12 hour shifts, seven days on with seven days off, weight - a little north of my high school weight. Okay fine, a lot more than my high school weight. Climate- ice, snow and darkness half of the year. Running group - nope. Not even a dog.

This should be easy? Right?? (insert maniacal laugh here)

Living in Alaska - it is easy to say "I'll run tomorrow, it is too cold today". However, I stuffed that voice into a little corner and strapped on my running shoes. The first time I went out for a run, the temperature was -20 degrees. I believe the wind-chill was something crazy (it is always windy in the tundra). My first mile took me 21 mins to complete. I thought 3 miles was a marathon in itself. Yikes!! Gradually, my mile got faster, the temperature got warmer and my first race was coming at me like a brick wall. I really wish I could say I trained so great that I broke land speed records with my first half. That did not happen. I ran throughout the summer - my record mile had gotten to 11:24. (side note, that is when I really started to like running, I was seeing great improvement every week! On a side note, that is pretty easy to do when you start slower than a slug) My longest run was 10 miles and I was feeling good. My average pace was a 13 min mile. But, I wasn't running like I should have. I would barely squeeze in one or two 30 mins sessions on during the week and forget about my long run on the weekend. That hardly ever happened.  So you forgive yourself and set a new goal. It happens. I would be a big fat liar if I said I did every run I was supposed to.

Then the great race day came. And that, my friends, is a story for another day.