I picked up my race packet last night still debating whether to run.

At this point it’s a test to see if I can run 21km (13.1 miles) without training.

I’ve slacked off so badly it’s shaming! I don’t have any excuses, no one to blame but myself.

I’m hoping some good will come out of this race though, sometimes you get so far off in the deep end there’s nothing more to do but turn back. I’m hoping this is one of those instances, that this will be the turning point.

I’m slightly comforted by this thought; it’s like I’m having one of those moments that encourages people to change their lives. I’m hoping I’ll look back on this day and smile knowing the exact moment I decided to take control.

I’m being a little dramatic here but I really hope I can use this race to get things started again. I’ve been off the grid for so long I need motivators. The running magazine does help but eventually I’m going to have to buckle down and just do it.

I’m hoping to stay within 2:03 hrs, and if I’m able to do that, I’ll reward myself!

Here’s to a great run tomorrow guys!

Could you successfully run a half-marathon if you only had a month to train?

That’s the question I’d been asking myself as the date drew closer.

My June edition of Runner’s World says that I can – good thing it came when it did otherwise I would have had to live with that lingering self-doubt.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning convinced it was raining; having had one false start already and with exactly a month to train I dragged myself out of bed and hit the pavement.

It wasn’t a smooth run, I started a bit too fast and was rapidly tiring out, I slowed down coming back and tried to get my breathing under control.

I want to take it seriously this year and shave at least 10mins off last year’s time. It’s doesn’t make any sense to not train and do poorly, then I might as well just not run.

To get my up to eight hours of sleep and still wake up that early, I’m going to have to go to bed early – which means I have to be asleep by 10PM.

From the look of things I’ll probably do only one long weekend run, I’m hoping to walk the route but I’m not going to sweat it.

I think I’ll do well, I’ll be fine as long as I use the next four weeks wisely.

After months of worrying, whining, hyperventilating, not training and almost debilitating self-doubt, I ran a half marathon last Sunday.

I’d like to think that it’s my most physically enduring undertaking ever but it wasn’t. That’s not to say it wasn’t hard, at one point I thought I was going to pass out.

It was pissing rain throughout the run, I’m talking a mini thunderstorm here… just my luck eh?

The feeling of being a part of over 3000 runners was exhilarating!

What impressed me most was how well behaved and orderly we were; unlike those 5K & 10K runs where people literally trample you to get to the start line, here we walked in an organized manner towards the start line till there was enough room to run.

So how did I do?

I did it in two hours and six seconds (my chip time, my gun time was 2:07) and came in 2087^th, meaning I beat 1263 people. I could have done better but I’m so damn proud of myself, I could hardly care.

I’m oddly reminded of something my father told me a long time ago on a hot sunny African morning.

He said me he feared mediocrity for me. He said I had a natural ability to be good at everything I tried “You have to understand that it’s never enough. Do it best; can you imagine the greatness you’d accomplish by working hard and applying yourself? You’d excel beyond your wildest imagination”,

I haven’t thought about that in years…because… well, it’s advice from my father, the same guy who didn’t come home one night because he “got lost and spent all night driving around the M25”

But that’s a story for another day.

I met someone (winner of last year’s race) who’ll help me train, I want to do a ten mile in October and walk the Seattle Marathon a month later then maybe run a marathon next year.

The London Marathon if I can get in.

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I feel unbalanced. I’ve been out of sorts lately.

I’ve been getting these surges of anticipation even though I have no great prospects. It’s making me edgy.

Summer has come a little early this year and it’s full of promise.

I’m running a half marathon later this month; my first ever…!

I haven’t been training; in fact I’ve outright stopped running because I can’t go as far anymore.

The worse that could happen is that I don’t get a “finisher” t-shirt because I drop out halfway through the race.

I’m a little sad because this isn’t how I pictured my first half marathon – I figured I’d be well trained, healthy and enthused.

Instead I can’t seem to shake this defeatist mindset.

Technorati Tags: Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon