Thank you, Knoxville Endurance!

I’m plucking along in the 5^th week of my half marathon training plan and almost half-way to my goal for a Mother’s Day race.  Though my training keeps getting progressively more challenging (UGH), I’m still sticking with it, and my performance and dedication are keeping me quite encouraged.  I don’t necessarily notice much change in my performance on shorter runs; but I certainly notice that I’m getting much more fit when I’m running as frequently as I am, and I  definitely notice better performance on longer runs.  Because of my training, so far I’ve knocked 15 minutes off my long run times in comparison with what I was doing training on my own, and I’ve maintained a steady weekly mileage increase without any injuries.  As if that weren’t enough encouragement, I got a little note from Knoxville Endurance today, and it included help with an upcoming race registration!

Competing in races is actually part of the training plan, partially because it’s good to participate in events to keep you focused, but also because practicing a race routine is an important part of training.  When I first met Bobby of KE, I really wanted to do the Covenant Health Half Marathon on April 7^th as my goal event, but we both knew I was very quickly approaching the training deadline for that event.  So, he asked me to think about other events that would give me 12-14 weeks to train.  That’s when I found the Mountain Mommas ½ Marathon on Mother’s Day, and I chose that as my goal event.  This whole time, though, I’ve still been toying with the idea of doing the Covenant Health Half Marathon even if it’s only as a training run; but that’s quite an expense just for training, which explains my waffling.  Now, because the fine folks at Knoxville Endurance are so kind and encouraging, I’m registered for the Covenant Health Half Marathon!

I’m very grateful to KE for working with me…even though I’m not a professional runner or endurance athlete like the rest of them are.  I’m really a very ordinary person (mediocre most of the time and even sub-par sometimes!), but I’m pushing myself to do something I think is extraordinary.  Knoxville Endurance is helping me do exactly that with training tailored specifically to where I am; and now they’re helping me participate in events just so I can be better prepared to meet my goals.

If you live around Knoxville and want to come out and support me (and the rest of the runners), I’d absolutely love it if you were there cheering me on!  In the meantime, I’m also running next Saturday at the Chasing Snakes 10K in Johnson City.  This will be my first 10K as well as my longest race to date.  This event benefits the Johnson City Interfaith Hospitality Network, which is a network of churches and other groups that provide support and temporary housing for homeless families.  I look forward to seeing some of my Johnson City friends next Saturday, and I hope I run into some of you out there while I’m racing!