How I Got Started in this Craziness! by Jen

Thanks, Steven for setting up this blog for us. I think it'll be cool to post our progress over the course of our training. I'm really excited about getting chosen for the half. A little over a year ago, when Steven asked Lewis & I to run a 5K with him I told him I wasn't a runner! He found us a 5K in Friendswood & I thought, "why not"? Lewis was a cross country runner in high school so I figured he'd be 'in', too. We started training September '09 & our first 5K was October '09.

I LOVED it! I loved the adrenaline I got on race day. I loved the crowd cheering us on along the way. I loved that I had no idea where I was headed next on the course, so I had to just keep running! My goal that day was to run better than a 45 min. 5K! I came in at 33:51. I was THRILLED! I had caught the bug & I was ready for my next race!

I ran 2 other 5Ks last year. Our 2nd was a BRUTAL Holiday Hustle in December. It had gotten postponed the week before due to temps. below 20 degrees! We Texans are just NOT used to those low temps! It wasn't much better the weekend we ran - nasty sloshy course, very damp day in just above freezing weather. Although, Steven did earn his first award - 1st place in his age group!! Yay, Steven. He worked HARD for that award!

A week after that December 5K, I ended up with what ended up being 6 weeks of walking pneumonia. Talk about a setback! It took a lot of mental blockage for me to get back into the swing of things again.

In April, I ran my 3rd 5K along with Taite who ran her first Kids-K. It was really an awesome day. I was proud of her to getting into this running 'buzz'. She did great. I wasn't thrilled with the amount of training I'd done for the race, but I ended up winning 3rd place in my age division! Yay. Ego booster that made me think I CAN do this! That's when I thought, "I'm doing the half marathon next year!"

And here we are, a year after we started this craziness. I'm excited & nervous all at the same time. Lewis has been doing great at the gym during the work week. We're just starting back up after a HOT summer off. We can do this! Go McMagsicles, go!