A Half Marathon Is Not 3.1 Miles!

I love to hate running.

Yet here I am running around ten miles a week and gearing up for a half marathon race in just a few weeks. I mentioned a while ago that I would tell the hilarious story of how I got suckered into signing up for a 13.1 mile competitive run. Today I deliver.

My cousin is a fantastic runner and she has always been really good at encouraging me to run with her. I have always politely declined. However this past year, I have been making my personal health and fitness a priority and I shared that with her. She immediately challenged me to sign up for a half marathon. I’d probably just woken up from a nap, so I didn’t have my full faculties about me and I readily agreed. The rested mind is an indomitable animal. Well, as the ultimate non-runner of the world, I just assumed a half marathon = a 5k, upon which a cursory google search told me was 3.1 miles long. (We won the war you know! Why do we use these funny measurements when talking about running distances?) Here is an unedited, exact replica of the text conversation that occurred on that fateful day wherein I asked her if our upcoming race was of the 5k variety.

I probably continued to respond with complete poise, with no apparent panic or desperation, at her interesting revelation, but I also knew that the race had cost me eighty dollars and I am much too cheap to lose out on that race fee, even if it meant I had to add in an undetermined amount of swimming as well. (There is no swimming in half marathons. Only in triathlons. Saved you a google search.) So here I am, running my heart out as I attempt to bump my running range from three miles to thirteen.

As a result, I wanted to share the running plan I have followed for the last eight weeks with great success. This is for non-runners, or already established runners and if followed will set you up for success with some great added benefits along the way!

http://cdn.running.competitor.com/

Enjoy and be brave in your abilities!