I have always had a love/hate relationship with running.  I loved to hate it!  I continue to ask myself why is it that every sport I played or work out I did consisted of me doing this activity?!  Maybe deep down in the soles of my feet I do have a passion for this rather boring form of exercise.  That’s why when I found out I was picked to run in the Nike Women’s Half Marathon (my first ever!!!) on October 18 ’09 in beautiful San Fran, my friends and family were left scratching there heads in wonderment. 

So it was April, six months prior to the race, and I found out I was one of the lucky 20,000+.  Due to the massive amounts of applicants in the past 2 years of the race, they figured using a lottery to choose participants would be the fair thing to do.  If you ask any of the runners who didn’t get picked, they might beg to differ!  So the first thing that popped in my head was, OK six months, no big deal - I’ll start running when I want to – 13.1 – piece of cake!  Yeah, and then I woke up.  Reality pimp slapped me in the face the second I started training.  I could barely do 2 miles straight on the treadmill.  BLEAH!

Luckily, my sister Jaime was my knight in shinning Nikes.  She herself is an avid runner, and a health & fitness nut.  She ran this same race just 3 years back, but the full 26.2…crazy broad.  So I left it up to her to guide our 2 man team.  We purchased Galloways Book on Running  to help fill in any gaps in our training regimen.  We sat down, read that book cover to cover and came up with a personalized plan that fit both our hectic lifestyles.  She was in stellar shape and I was coming off one of my laziest streaks of not working out.  I honestly didn’t think I could keep up.  I had some doubts along the way about whether I would finish or if I’d just collapse on my face by mile 4.

We didn’t get into full swing with our training till early July.  During the week, we’d do our separate work outs and on Friday’s we’d team up for the long run. I definitely recommend running with a buddy on those long runs-they are killer-especially down here in this scorching Florida heat!  Here is just an example of a week in the life of this ½ marathon runner-wannabe:

Mondays: Run 2 miles

Tuesdays: Cross train/lift

Wednesday: Run 3 miles

Thursdays: Cross train/lift

Friday: Long runs…dum dum dummmmm! (We started with 3-4 miles and worked our way up from there)

Saturday: Day off 

Sunday: Cross train

We have been sticking to this pretty well, upping our long runs by a mile each week.  We are up to 8 as of today!  This is already a huge accomplishment for me, personally.  I never ran more than 3 miles in my life.  I have been told that on race day you get this insane bout of adrenaline while you’re racing due to all the hootin’ and hollerin’ going on around you, but I got to admit the adrenaline rush is already kicking in! Whoohoo!

I did face a few problems while training.  After every long run I was feeling fatigued, dizzy, nauseous, out of breath – you name it. I felt and looked like the crud under your shoe.  Sometimes I couldn’t even finish.  So immediately my big sis got worried and started asking around while I quietly did my research too.  Apparently, I wasn’t eating properly and running out of fuel.  I also wasn’t breathing correctly (who woulda thunk it!).  So I started eating more the day before and the day of my long runs.  I focused on complex carbs, proteins, fruits, veggies, and about an hour before my run I would nosh on an Arnold’s whole wheat thin with PB.  During my runs I make sure to take swigs of H2O every 15 minutes or so to stay hydrated.  My increase in food along with only breathing through my nose did the trick! 

What makes the Nike Women’s Marathon so great is that it benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  This is really a great cause that hits home for me.  I have had a family member who suffered from leukemia, running for her and helping this great cause is the least I can do! The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has a training group called Team in Training (TNT).  TNT gives you the opportunity to train with certified coaches and larger group of runners.  Participants get their race entry fee taken care of in return for the runner to raise money benefiting Leukemia & Lymphoma research. They are all over the US in different cities, all you got to do is find one close to you.  It really is a great deal if you ask me, and the camaraderie between the team of runners is the greatest support you can have on race day.

With just a little over a month and a half left for the big day, I am feeling more confident than ever.  This experience has taught me so much about myself.  Now I know that I CAN overcome challenges both physically and mentally and work towards one of the hardest goals I have ever faced.  My doubts and fears have washed away regardless of how rough this training has been for me.  So if anyone out there has ever thought about doing a half or full marathon, I have one question for you…What’s stopping you!??

- Amanda