It's that time!

This year my races are going to be the St Pattie's Day 4-miler and the Cap City Half Marathon. I am pretty excited that it's time to train again. I love having a goal and a plan to follow. Guess I am a geek like that.

I started running for fun after a mountain climbing trip with Brandon on Grays Peak. I saw several people running partway and wanted to join in the fun (yes, it did look fun-but tiring).

After keeping my base mileage this winter in 20-plus degree weather and sometimes lots lower--read 0 degrees--I am now training for the Cap City Half Marathon.

I really wanted to try a break two hour plan on Runners World. During the first half I did in the Columbus Marathon, I did a great job at having fun and not going too fast. I finished with a time of 2.28. But, I also had a horrible chest cold and it hurt to breath. This time I have incorporated some interval training and cycling in the basement, which have helped my speed.

I was so excited yesterday. It was a glorious 38 degrees, beautiful with the bluest sky ever. I even got to 6.33 per mile on my last mile interval at the end of a 6 mile run after never getting there before! I say that because I never thought I would hit that target....ever...ever....

It shows that sticking with your plan, no matter how easy or hard it may seem...works..

After my run on at Glacier Ridge on Saturday I could tell that all of those days of slogging through heat, ice and rain had paid off.

Having got the bug, I love to listen to Run Run Live Podcast (free on itunes) during runs. It's a great show for "runners, wannabe runners and mid-packers (me)" of all kinds.

I love love what one lady said to me waiting in line at a downtown restaurant in Columbus before the start of the Columbus Marathon last October:"I just needed something more in my life than chicken nuggets and soccer."

Love that.