I will Run for Wine!

I started running about 4 years ago.  And when I say run, I mean a slow jog.  And when I say started running I mean that it was a challenge to make it to the end of the street without being winded.  However, as bad as I was in the beginning, every time I went out there I got better.  First it was passing the end of the street and making it to the next stop sign.  Then it was running half a mile without stopping.  Then it turned into a hobby that I would do a few times a week. 

After running for a few months, my running buddy Amber and I decided to sign up for our first race.  (Amber was just as bad as I was.)  We signed up for the Gasparilla 5k.  After our first race, regardless of what our time was, we were both hooked!  We loved how it made us feel to actually finish something like that.  So here we are 4 years later with 4 5ks, one 10k and one 15k under our belts.  We were ready to train for the next level - a half marathon.

While looking around online at potential 1/2 marathons we discovered that Disney was going to be doing their Inaugural Wine & Dine Half Marathon.  How perfect!  We will run at night when it is cool and we get to eat and drink wine after it was over.  Doesn't get much better.

So the training began.  We followed the training guide that was posted online and tried to get in as many runs as possible.  However, training in the middle of summer in Florida is pretty brutal.  We would have to get up at 5a.m. on Saturday mornings to finish our longer runs before the sun came up.  But after months of training, this past weekend I completed my very first half marathon!

Who has two thumbs and just ran her first half marathon?  This girl.

The judges don't think so, but I think I'm number 1.

The race was very cool but at the same time challenging because it didn't start until 10:00 p.m.  I am use to running in the mornings.  Disney did a great job with providing lots of entertainment throughout the race to keep motivated.  I would recommend it to anyone.  My time wasn't quite as good as I would like it to be, but I can say that I accomplished my goal, and have already signed up for my next 1/2 marathon at the end of next month!  I am hoping that with the amount of training I have already put in, I can continue that path and exceed my time without a problem.  This is one thing I can cross off my list and also never forget.