butterflies are starting...

well, coach said it would happen. for us half-marathon first timers, that we would feel like taper week would feel like we're not running enough and won't be ready for the start of the race on Saturday at 8am. so true.i vacillate between feeling super nervous and feeling super stoked.

running is 99% mental. seriously folks, it is. I hear it all the time.... 'oh i could never run'. 'oh my gosh, i can't run 4 blocks, let alone 13.1 miles'. okay, if you wanted to, you could. I'm not saying running is for everyone. I am not preaching that everyone run. honest. but for some folks, it's a surprisingly cool thing once you get into it. I have seen all ages, all body types, all variances of runners at races. so i don't buy the 'i can't do it'. yes, you can. it's all up to you. i am a huge believer in you are your own destiny. you make the choices. if you get dealt a bad hand and have a down turn in life, you can turn it around. is it easy? heck no. life is about challenges mixed in with the fun and exciting times. i have stresses too. running helps with that. as does traveling, a night out on the town, or just quiet by myself time.


i'm not a speedy runner. slow and steady JD. that's me. so for my first Big Dance this weekend, I have no goal other than to finish strong (ie not dying at the end), with a smile, celebrating with my new friends and teammates, and having that medal (my first real medal) as the start to a good collection this year....

as a reminder, i didn't wake up 3 weeks ago and decide to just register for a half marathon. i've been training for 12 weeks. and been running for 2 years in varying levels of building up to where i am. there are amazing beginner groups out there. there's a great book called "The Courage to Start" by the famous Penguin in the running world, John Bingham (who started running around age 40 when he was very overweight, smoked, drank, all the 'fun' things in life ;) there's a Couch to 5K program online. (that is 3.1 miles, very very common for first time runner/walkers)....

i'm a librarian. i'll hook you up. IF you want to be pointed to good sources. if not, there are soooooo many other options for being active and doing fun things. life is for living. and since none of us really knows how long we'll be around to do that, take advantage of each day and do the things that you find fun & challenging. that's all i'm sayin'. for me, running is part of it.


so until next week, enjoy the full-ish moon...one of my favorite things....~jd