Half-crazy

I had this crazy idea, at least it is crazy for me. In order to prepare mentally for the rigors of running a marathon at the end of a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike ride, I set a goal of running a half-marathon on the last Friday of each month leading up to my races in the Summer and Fall. Today is the last Friday of January.

This is me running in Tour de Ashland half-marathon.

I am not running alone this morning, I will be going out with my training partner Dan, who ran his first half in early December 2010. He and I run at least twice a week and circuit train twice a week too. We have a regular six mile route that takes us through several residential areas. It contains several long climbs that always seem to arise at the worst times. Today we will be climbing those hills three times. Our six mile route will contain in it an additional three mile route of the hilliest section, just because I am a little maniacal that way. That will total just about twelve miles, so I will need to figure something out for the last 1.1.

This is the first time I have run a half-marathon unsupported. That part is slightly scary. I will be carrying a small Camelbak filled with water. I will also be carrying some bars inside my coat. I think I will fuel up with some steel cut oatmeal and a fruit smoothie along with my daily supplements.

Sometimes I have a hard time believing that I can do things like a 13 mile run, it wasn't that long ago that I could not do a single mile! I feel so fortunate that I turned that corner! Maybe I am not so crazy, just very, very lucky!