A new goal: 13 weeks to 13.1

After a very successful September, our dedication to eating well and exercising was waning a bit, especially on the weekends. We needed some energy injected into our healthy lifestyle, and we needed a new goal. Working towards hitting a target weight just wasn't really providing the motivation we needed. Especially for me, since I was doing fine on eating well, but getting lazy with my workouts.

So, we set a new goal: Paul and I are going to run a half marathon! This was inspired by a few things. First of all, while looking for a good local 5K or 10K, I came across the Disneyland Half Marathon. Seriously, how fun does that sound? It's not until next September, though. I asked Paul if he was interested, but 11 monthes is a long time, so he suggested we find one to do before that. (I'm still planning on running next September, though. Anyone want to join me and Mickey?).

Another inspiration came from family. My brother-in-law completed his first marathon in Chicago yesterday, and he even finished 2 minutes faster than his goal! I think that's pretty cool, and I'm totally inspired to hit the road myself. Maybe a marathon is in my future. For now I'm going to start with a half, and we'll see after that.

So we started searching for a half marathon in Los Angeles, and found a perfect one right near us. There's no course map up yet, but the description has the course coming right near our house (maybe even within a few blocks). Plus, it starts and ends at the beach in Santa Monica - you can't get much better than that! (If you're interested in more info on the race in L.A., you can check it out here. To see if there is one near you, check here).

Yesterday, I looked up Hal Higdon's half marathon training program online (I'm doing the Novice program, and Paul's working on Intermediate). I entered all the workouts into my Google Calendar and Paul's agenda, and we started training today! The half marathon is exactly 13 weeks from yesterday. It seems weird to say we started training since neither of us ran today, though. The training program calls for Strength and Stretching on Mondays, so I did an hour long yoga workout and Paul hit the weights at the gym. Tomorrow we'll start putting on the miles, and we'll be on our way to 13.1.

I'm really excited about our new goal, and the training program is totally reasonable - I don't think I'll have any trouble keeping up with it. I'm a little nervous for the longer runs, since the farthest I've ever run is 7 miles (in high school cross country). The training program works up to the higher mileage, though, so I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I'll be sure to keep you updated as we train.

13 weeks and counting!