13.1 miles?

Tomorrow I am starting my half-marathon training plan. Tomorrow's plan is stretch & strengthen, which I am going to take to mean I'm going to do a bodyweight circuit and spend some dedicated time on my flexibility.

 Week 1 Training
Monday: Stretch & Strengthen
Tuesday: Run 3 miles.
Wednesday: Run 2 miles or cross train.
Thursday: run 3 miles, strength train.
 Friday: Rest.
Saturday: 30 min. cross train
Sunday: Long Run.

 I work on morning shift. I was very against the recent switch from normal daytime hours to early shift, but I am finding more positive things about it as I go on. One thing is that not only am I given time during work to get food and to exercise, I also have the afternoons free to train! Most of my friends will also be at work, so I will have one less distraction.

The half that I'm training for is run every fall aboard Camp Pendleton, California. It's called the Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon. This year, it's running September 8. I have just enough time to complete this novice training plan, starting tomorrow. I'm going to register ahead of time! I know, you laugh, but my first race ever was the Devil Dog Dualthlon & 5k. I just ran the 5k, since I am not in bike shape. I registered on the morning of the race, because you can. It was a blast! I won my division, which wasn't hard- I was the only one registered in my class, which was Military-Athena.

I have two goals for the Heartbreak Ridge Half. One is to complete the race. The other is to not qualify as an Athena. Athena class is for females that are over 160 lbs. Now, I will make an exception for this goal. If my bodyfat is at an appropriate level, I'll settle for being at 160 or a couple more. By an appropriate level, I mean I'm able to tape in at a weigh-in.

I'm nervous. I can easily complete 3 miles in a respectable time, 26 min, and last year I was running at 23:30ish. So I know I can complete a little less than 1/4 of the race. In fact, I know I can run 13.1 miles. I will hurt and I will want to walk, but I'm a Marine, and that means I do what I decide to do. What I'm most doubting in myself is my dedication to the training plan. I kind of ad-libbed my 5k plans. I need to find a partner for at least a couple of my workouts for accountability.

P.S. If you're interested in running any races on Camp Pendleton, and you should be if you're in the area, here's the website with all the info you will need: http://www.camppendletonraces.com