Even though it's not officially spring yet, we've been experiencing some 60-70 degree weather in Indy! Even last weekend was in the mid-50s, and that's warm enough to be running outside! I've been dealing with a winter season of terrible treadmill runs. I just can't get into my groove, I've had to lower my pace by almost a full minute per mile, and it just hurts. I can't believe that I used to love treadmills and hardly ever ran outside. I decided to do a 5-mile outdoor run last Sunday night (thank God daylight savings has also kicked in!), and I was encouraged to see that my pace outside was right on my standard 9:00.
It feels weird right now, as the whole town of Indianapolis is in full training mode for the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini Marathon, to not be joining them. I've done this race the past two years (and had an extensive blog about last year's training!), but this year I'm doing something a little different. My mom has always been the one to drop me off at my races when I didn't want to deal with parking, and she even braved the fierce wind at last year's Mini to watch me cross the finish line. It was at that moment, as I was dripping with adrenaline, that some rubbed off on her and she said that she thought one day she might want to walk the Mini. So I said ok let's do it together, and we signed up! Walking for 3+ hours isn't exactly my idea of a good time, but I knew it's not an event she would sign up for without me being right there with her. My mom is one of those people naturally blessed with a thin build and killer abs, even though she rarely exercises. It's been fun to hear about her training, as it reminds me of my first Mini--stressing out about my mileage and pace and worrying whether or not I could even finish the thing. Last month she was already up to walking 8 miles!
As for my training, I've been keeping up with my usual amount of running--about twice a week, doing anywhere from 3-8 miles at a time. It feels great to not have the pressure of trying to beat last year's time! I plan on showing up to the mini this year in full makeup and Starbucks in hand...just out for a nice morning stroll :)
As many of you know, I've been debating on running a full marathon this fall. At this point I've told so many people that it's past debating and it's more an issue of just not being able to bring myself to actually sign up. I keep thinking about all the "what ifs" that would prevent me from being able to complete it. What if I get an injury--should I wait until closer to the race date and see how my body's feeling? What if we're so busy with buying a house and moving in this summer that I don't have time for long training runs? I have to remind myself that each year can potentially be more busy...and I'll be another more year older. Not that I feel like I'm getting old, but if there's ever a time to run a marathon, it's in your 20s when your body can adapt and recover quickly.
Ok ok...it's time to commit.
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