Gearing up for tomorrow

Starting my pre-training tomorrow (as opposed to Tuesday, when I was knocked out by the plague...)

Pre-training? Yes, I have to get back to where I was in September before I can begin my ACTUAL training program, which is a 15 week program. Which means I have to be comfortably running 2-3 miles at a time by February 10th. I was up to about 1.5-2 miles when I stopped back in September, so I feel confident I can get there 8 weeks out - even with the holidays wrecking havoc with my schedule.

Total side note, but I'm still totally confused as to why I'm doing this. It's like I turned 31 (on 12/4) and the next day woke up as a completely different person, and apparently that person wants to run a half marathon. Seriously, I am NOT an athletic person, nor a competitive person, nor a goal-setting person, nor a disciplined person, nor a particularly health-conscious person. I'm a wimp, and I like to eat, watch TV, and mess around on the computer. But apparently the new me has decided to ignore all of those factors and change my life. I'm not sure if I'm so happy about that!

I'm using a training program from the book Absolute Beginner's Guide to Half Marathon Training - can you beat a title like that? I'm about halfway through the book, and so far I've learned a lot. So I'll be running Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (long runs) and cross-training on Mondays. Fits perfectly with my schedule (or more accurately, Max's preschool schedule).

The half marathon I'm running is the Covered Bridges Half Marathon. It takes place about a half-hour from my house, which is kind of nice. I'll be able to run parts of the course for some of my longer runs, and will be able to sleep in my own bed before the race. The course drops 200 ft. over the 13.1 miles, with a small uphill at mile 5 and a short, steep climb at mile 8. I say these things like they mean something to me. Sigh... I'm so out of my league!