Half Marathon?

If you ever told me in the past (whether it be high school, college or heck even middle school) that I’d run a 5K - I’d laugh. A 10K? I would ask if you were crazy. A ½ marathon? I’d send you straight to the loony bin for even asking. So how is it that a 5K seems like nothing, a 10K seems manageable and now I’m considering a ½ marathon?! Do I need to be sent straight to the loony bin?? 

Maybe this should be me?!

Alix, my motivator of all things running, asked me to do a ½ marathon with her in August. At first I kind of freaked because it seemed so close, but after talking to some of the runners at work they said you need 12 weeks to train for it. And looking at the training schedule they recommended I could probably skip to week 5 or 6 and go from there. So I have more than enough time. Heck, probably too much time. I have enough time to freak myself out and not do it. I mean 6 miles is my longest run… that seems like a long way from 13! 

You see I’m not a runner… or am I? 

I always say “oh I’m not a runner”… or “I’m new to running”… but how long can I keep saying that? How long can I claim not to be a runner but put in 20 miles a week? How long can I say I’m not a runner, but push myself to run further, longer without water, faster….? Maybe I am a runner. It’s not natural born, that’s for sure. It definitely is for necessity… but 20 miles week? That’s more than necessary. Considering a ½ marathon? That’s more than just necessary for weight management. 

This running thing started as a way to keep the weight loss going (speed walking at high inclines only goes so far)… and somehow it seems to have become so much more. I’m grouchy if I don’t get to run as plan. I try to recruit my friends to come run with me. I challenge myself. 

Maybe I am a runner...?