So Now What?!?!?

I did it! I have just completed the Great Wall Half Marathon on Saturday, May 19th with a time of 3:15:01. I am so pleased with myself! It was the first time that I trained and completed something like this in my life. I ran at least 5 times a week,I gradually increased the weekly kilometers and have completed 3, 20km+ runs prior to the race on Saturday and lost 3kgs. I am so happy that I did it!

So now what?

I loved training for this run. It was such a tangible goal that it was easy to keep focus. The fact that it was my first half marathon was also a huge motivation factor for me. I had to train my body to run longer than an hour. Before this I could barely run for 45 minutes. But am I always going to need a race to train for to keep me in shape? I hope not, but it did make it easier for me to stay focused... I have learned a couple of things about myself during this training process...

1. I like publishing my runs/workouts/exercises - Using runkeeper was great for that. Mapping out the run, writing how I felt and having it followed by the few people that saw it on Facebook. It helped! That is why I read other people's posts when they put it up there!

2. It is all about food! Food has this power over me - I like food, I love food! I can't stop myself when I am eating something I love! But I am finding that my body cannot keep up anymore. I feel my tummy grumble after I eat something yummy and saucy and full of rich goodness... but it just does not agree with me later. I feel ten times better when I am eating fruits and vegetables - although bland at times, I can make it yummy and healthy.

3. Writing it down isn't good enough - I used to do all this writing in a journal... nice and private and the only person that really knew I was doing that was my lawfully wedded boyfriend. And even then I wouldn't really let him see it - but he knew what I was writing about. But that isn't the same... it's one thing to admit something to yourself, it is another thing to admit it aloud to other people. That one simple act make it real and makes you accountable not just to others but to yourself in a more real way.

So this is it... This is where I am going to keep it in gear - with or without a race at the end of the tunnel, because it is a life long journey. There are a lot of things that will happen along the way and hopefully you'll join me in the journey...

Just one note of thanks to Uzay - you inspired me to have the courage to start writing this all out... Thanks!

So let's get into first gear...