Git 'er done!

Well today was the day for a long one. I was pretty bummed when my running partner texted me this morning to let me know she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be able to run with me. For a very brief moment, I felt a wave of panic come over me. How am I suppose to do my long run without my other running half, and how am I suppose to be ready for this race in less than two months if I don't do my long run today (yes, today, because that's when I do my long runs, on Thursdays and no other days)?!?!

I took a deep breath, finished my third second cup of coffee, and put my big girl pants on. I grabbed my iPod and bottle of Gatorade, kissed the hubs goodbye, and got in the car to drive to my running trail (yeah, I hate driving to run... but that's for another time).

Now we've been having some fairly cool weather lately in the Queen City, but Mother Nature must have known that I would be doing my long run this morning... It was mid 70's when I started and well into the 80's when I finished (and my Florida blood has thickened, so lay off!). But no matter... I pushed 'play' on the Nike+ and off I went.

By mile 2, I was thinking to myself, 'hey- I feel pretty good. Maybe I can turn this 9 miler into a 10?' But then I remembered not to get too ahead of myself, the run was still young. By the time I got to my 9 mile turn-around, I had talked myself out of it. Oh well.

At about mile 6, I busted out a snack size Snickers Bar to calm my growling stomach (why, oh why do I seem to be the only person in the world who gets hungry while they run?). I'm not sure if the candy actually helped give me more energy, but it was a heavenly 30 seconds as I ate it (dare I say the best part of the run?). Washed it down with some red Gatorade (yum) and kept going.

By mile 7, I was exchanging obscenities with myself (from myself) and wondering what the heck I was thinking, signing up for a half marathon? My legs were tired, by knees achy, and my throat burning from hacking and gagging in air. And then, wouldn't you know, I ran into the UNCC Men's track team on the trail. It would have been all fine and dandy if they had been running in a pack, but nope. One coach was standing at mile two, and the other coach was standing at the beginning of the trail, and they were all running back and forth. And well, I'll be darned if I'm going to let a bunch of guys see me walking! Needless to say, my last two miles were my fastest.

How fast did I go, you ask? Well, I'm pretty sure after an hour and a half, my Nike+ flipped me the bird and called me a fatty, but I finished 9.77 miles in 1 hour and 46 minutes. For me, that's a respectable 10:55/mile pace. But for the real runners out there, that's just TDS/mile (too damn slow). According to my Nike+, I burned 1101 calories- that's almost an entire bag of potato chips! Or ten (sissy) beers. Maybe I'll strike a compromise and drink 5 beers and a half a bag of potato chips (what can I say? I am my father's daughter).

Tomorrow we're leaving to go to Jacksonville for the weekend, so no run on Saturday. Maybe I can squeeze a short 3 miler in tomorrow morning before we leave, but we'll have to wait and see if I can still walk.

Bring it!

Hello, my name is Danielle and I'm running a half marathon on December 11, 2010!

Up until today, I've had that little nagging voice in the back of my head telling me, 'you still have time. It's not too late. Quit now, you did before.' No longer! Today I registered for the Thunder Road Half Marathon. In exactly 45 days, I will be lacing up the running shoes, pressing 'play' on the iPod, and biting the bullet (the biting will probably be more toward miles 10-13).

I'm excited, terrified, cRaZy, and PUMPED all at once! This will be my first half marathon, and to be honest, I never thought I could do it. When I was in college, I had a friend who talked about doing a marathon. She made it sounds so cool, so I thought sure, I'll jump on the bandwagon. I did ok for a while, then re-injured my knee and had the joy of experiencing my second knee surgery (and by joy, I mean pure agony and torture). Thus ended Attempt #1. When I moved to Charlotte a little over a year ago, I started running again (more for the sake of my sanity), but then... Winter happened. And let me tell you, this Florida girl don't like running in the cold! That was Attempt #2.

But the third time is the charm! I'll have to suck it up and run in the cold, but I'll be darned if I'm going to eat that registration fee. This time is for real... I'm going to do it!

(Oh yeah, did I mention the race is NASCAR themed? God bless the rednecks!)

The Start

I've decided to start a blog about my adventures in running. I've been training for my first half marathon for a while (5 years off and on, but who's counting?) and thought maybe if I vocalize my goals/frustrations/training to the virtual world, maybe I would be held accountable to finish this one?

That being said, I have two disclaimers for anyone reading this: First, I'm slow. I mean, really slow, at running. You must therefore promise not to mock my time and pace (if I even have the guts to make them public). Second, I'm a horrible writer. I do my best, but I'm no poet and my grammar stinks.

If neither of those two things will bug you, then read on! My goal for this blog is to be able to look back and be reminded of where I came from, my humble beginnings, if you will. From mile 3 to 13.1...hopefully I can bring some humor into my/your life!