My First 13.1 Miles

I think I got the bug. My friends warned me about the bug. 

I walked my very first half marathon on Sunday and the very next day I wanted to go for a walk. And two more days later, I've found myself looking up future races that I might want to sign up for. I love the idea of working towards a goal a few months out that will motivate me to train and regularly walk long distances while connecting with friends who will most likely do the race with me. It’s about wellness, discipline, movement, and friendship. 

I have always loved walking. It gives me time to reflect and collect my thoughts and emotions. It’s soothing to me. But I had never ever considered walking a half marathon! Then in April, one of my coaching classmates, Dena started talking about doing a half marathon in September and her enthusiasm was contagious. Several of us decided to sign up so we can have a little reunion a few months after our coaching certificate classes were completed. I signed up and then didn’t really think about it, because it felt so far away. Then luckily, Dena checked in and asked how our training was. 

This was kind of a new concept for me because the year before I did my first official 5K for my friend, Sarah’s birthday celebration, but that didn’t require as much training since I already walked 3 miles pretty regularly. Dena gave us a training plan which really helped break it down and make the concept of a half marathon so much more tangible. I’m so grateful. So the first goal was to walk 6 miles by July 1^st. Then 10 miles by August 1^st. Once we got up to 10 miles, we were practically there and the additional 3.1 miles would work itself out. 

So I wrote a visual to keep the half marathon goal in mind and put it by my work computer. It listed the date of the half and then the number of miles I needed to walk by a certain date. Of course, there is always room for humanness. I didn’t quite get up to 6 miles by July 1^st but sometime in July I was able to. And then I got up to 8 miles several times in August but didn’t get up to 10 miles until early this month. But I did it! I walked a half marathon this past Sunday! 

It didn’t quite hit me until the morning of that 3 years ago I wouldn’t have been able to even fathom walking so far. My chronic pain made it difficult to even stand for more than 10 minutes without getting achy and dizzy. It nearly brought tears to my eyes to think of the healing that has occurred since then. It may have been slow at times, but steadily I’ve gotten stronger and healthier. And now look what I can do! Wow!