A new year of running

Happy New Year!! I am very excited to announce that I have been chosen again to be an official blogger for the Cleveland Rite Aid Marathon. I ran the 10K last year and decided this year to challenge myself and run the half. I ran my first half in 2012. A friend of mine (Nikaeda, the running diva)  told me about an inexpensive half in Youngstown and it seemed like a good idea to sign up. I ran the Mill Creek Classic in Youngstown, Ohio. If you have ever run this, you know that this is a ridiculously difficult race. No one warned me. My only goal for this race was to not walk. I wanted to be able to say that I RAN a half and mean it. I ran with a partner and we completed the race in 2 hours and 48 minutes. I am so proud to say that I did not walk a step. I would like to run the Rite Aid Cleveland Half Marathon in May. My goals for that race are to not walk and to finish with a better time. So far, a few of my friends have elected to run in concrete sneakers alongside me. The infamous cousin J will be joining me for his first half.  My friend Rebecca will also be running her first half. My friend Michele told me that she would like to run the full. She is a half fanatic and has already run one full.  The last time I trained for a half I used this training plan. It seemed to work pretty well and I increased my mileage slowly and felt confident with the distance. Are you interested in challenging yourself? Are you a slower runner? Are you interested in Running in Concrete Sneakers with us? Let me know. I would love for us to be able to encourage each other! You'll also get a snazzy little tee!! Check it out!!! The Joes will also be sporting these when they complete the 5K!