I am definitely not Forrest Gump

Running. I have decided that I mostly hate it, but I still do it. I signed up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon that is in February. The last half marathon distance I did was in August of 1999 when I ran the Pikes Peak Ascent with my mom. I was 19 and full of energy. I didn't train for it at all. I had a job where I walked for 5 hours a day during the hot, Midwest summer day so I figured that was good enough. It wasn't. That race kicked my ass. My mom was kind of enough to stay with me and it took about 6 hours to finish. I told my mom I would never run again. The last race I "ran" was a 4th of July 5K in 2005 which is in memory of my mom. I walked that race with my family. I was hungover and feeling horrible so those 3 miles were brutal. I spent most of early and mid 20s drinking and dancing as my exercise. After that exercise consisted of walking to the kitchen to get chocolate and walking the dogs. Luckily, I do enjoy vegetables and healthy food so that balanced the lack of exercise and chocolate. E (who is my husband. He didn't want me to use his name and I am tired of referring to him as "the husband") has to stay in shape for the Navy. He started getting into running about a year ago. After we learned that Jacksonville would be our home this winter, he signed up for the Disney Marathon. I thought he was crazy. He challenged me to do a 5K. For some odd reason, I decided to take it a step further and here I am training for a half marathon. Some days I am pretty sure I made a huge mistake. However, last night I had a breakthrough. I ran for 30 minutes. No walking. This is a big deal for me. I usually have to walk at some point. I ran at a slow pace, but I did it. I know I will never win an award for time. My pace last night was around 11 minutes/mile, but I didn't walk. Plus I actually enjoyed it a bit. It was nice to have 30 minutes to myself listening to music that is not kid friendly. I almost ran 3 miles last night. Here is hoping I can an additional 10 after that in a few months.