Starstruck

Last year, on a whim, I signed up for the St. Jude Half Marathon. I assumed that my running buddy, Ashley, would sign up too. She didn't.

With very little actual training or preparation, I trudged downtown and managed to complete the race in a semi-decent fashion. I was elated, but unsure if I would ever do it again.

This year when I eventually decided to signed up again, I went ahead and signed Ashley up too. (It was her birthday present! I asked her first!) To alleviate the stress and fear I struggled through last year, we also signed up with Star Runners' half marathon training group.



That is Star Richey, our trainer, last Saturday morning telling us all where to run and how fast to go. I can't tell you how awesome it is to have someone doing that! We're about a month into our training (race day is December 3) and I already feel super confident that it's going to be an amazing race. I may actually race this year rather than just try and survive!

In addition to telling us where to go and when, Star also provides moral support, expert advice on nutrition, cross-training, and a million other things. It's also really cool to be running in a group with about 50 other people. We don't all always run together, but even when half of us are there we are usually quite a sight!

This week we are working on hills. We ran downtown on Tuesday and went over the bridge four times...and it was actually fun! Thursday we are doing an easy three mile run in preparation for a 9 mile hill run in Shelby Forest.

How crazy is that? Star makes even the craziest things seem doable. I'm so happy we signed up.

Disclaimer--I have told Ashley that if I start talking about doing the full marathon next year, she can kick me.