So, sort of funny story … I almost forgot I needed to publish a blog post today.

You see I just finished day six out of an eight day work schedule, so it doesn’t feel quite like a Monday. Honestly, I mostly just feel really tired. So, when I got home tonight I was scrolling through my phone and debating on what I could do with my night when I came up with the idea to take a shower, eat some ice cream, and then spend the rest of the night reading a book.

I was hooked on that idea. Then, when I was in the shower I was thinking about this tweet that I read earlier, which made me think about running, which reminded me that I have a blog about running. So, here we are now. I’m going to try and keep this really short so I can go and enjoy something sweet.

My Soapbox Moment

I’ll tell you about my first week of half marathon training in a second, but first I wanted to go back a revisit the tweet that I told you about in the last paragraph.

So, this tweet that I read was a quote or a take-a-way someone had gotten out of an interview from a podcast that I listen to. I could go back and search through my Twitter feed to find exactly what this person shared, but I’ve got a bowl of chocolate ice cream calling my name so please excuse my poor reporting of this story. Overall this tweet was saying something along the lines of, “Would you still be doing what you’re doing if you weren’t posting about it on social media? Are you really doing this for you?”

I had sort of an “@ me next time” moment when I read this, because as you know I created an entire blog surrounding my half marathon training experience. So, much as the tweet was suggesting, I thought “Would I still be doing this if it weren’t for my blog?”

My answer is a little messy, but here’s the truth – I don’t think I would be.

You see, I’ve had this goal to run a half marathon for a very long time. I have a very vivid memory of the moment I decided I wanted to run a half marathon. I was sitting the car with my mom waiting for my sister to finish volleyball practice. One of the other cars in line had either a 13.1 or a 26.2 (maybe both) sticker on their back windshield. I asked my mom what those numbers meant and she explained that this person had probably run either a half marathon or a marathon depending on the sticker. That’s when I decided I wanted one of those stickers.

I used to really hate running, so I’m not sure how getting a car sticker motivated me to become a runner, but it did. However, I had this light-bulb moment like eight years ago, and yet the motivation of getting a car sticker hasn’t been enough for me to even start training for half marathon.

That’s why I started this blog. I needed some outside source to help hold me accountable. So, if it weren’t for this blog would I still want to run a half marathon? Yes. Would I be doing it? Probably not.

I really enjoy running, and I am so excited that I have now signed up for my first half marathon. I also really enjoy writing this blog every week and sharing my experiences with those of you who are kind enough to read it.

I understand what that tweet was trying to say. I’m sure there are many people out there who do not enjoy the things they are posting about as much as it seems like they do. However, I really do like running. I just needed a little extra accountability in order to prepare to run a half marathon, and this blog, and all of you who read it, provide that for me.

Okay, I’ll get of my soapbox now. Or as the kids are saying these days, “Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.”

Half Marathon Training Week 1

I am planning on uploading my entire week-by-week training plan on here in case any of you would like to follow a similar plan yourself. However, this week I am not quite prepared to do that. Again, I sort of dropped the ball on this whole blog thing today.

However, my week consisted of one too many rest days, as well as two days of two mile easy runs, one day of a two and a half miles easy run (I really just ran for thirty minutes), and one three mile run. I was supposed to do 30 minutes of cross training this week too, but that was where my “one too many rest days” came into play.

Before I get any comments about missing the cross training day, I just want to say, I know. I’ve read multiple articles and blog posts from people talking about their “first half marathon mistakes” and in every article it mentions skipping cross training days. I’ll try to be better this week. I don’t plan on making a habit out of skipping cross training days.

Wrap Up

Well, that’s all for this week. This turned out to be a little bit longer than I expected, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. I’ll be back next week to tell you about week two of my half marathon training plan (unless I forget, like I almost did today).

Okay, now I need to go eat that ice cream!

Motivation Monday

“If you’re going to rise you might as well shine.” –unknown.

Week 18:  
Miles run this week: 9.577
Miles run total: 75.717
Overall mood: Tired