Training for a Half Marathon

So I signed up to train and run with Team Diabetes in the PF Chang 2010 Rock and Roll Arizona. It will be January 17th. Here I am - never run a race and I can barely run a mile all at once - though when I combine walking and running, I can go much farther. I thought I would chronicle my training and progress here for the "rest of us" who aren't natural-born-runners.

Today I used a combination of Couch to 5K (week 3, day 2) and my own methods on the treadmill. W3D2 was scheduled to be run 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes and repeat for a total of 18 minutes plus a five minute warm up and cool down - total 28 minutes. I did that but then I continued on for a total of 3 1/2 miles.

On the 90 second runs, I set the pace at 6miles/hr (10 minute mile) and on the three minute runs, I did the first minute at 6mi/hr, the second minute at 5.5mi/hr and the third minute at 5mi/hr. I ran/walked the 18 minutes but then continued on to complete 3 1/2 miles.

Hopefully, someday I'll be able to run longer than three minutes without having to stop and walk!

Click here to donate to my Team Diabetes!

When do you actually qualify as "a runner"?

Is it when you buy "running shoes"? Is it when you run the first mile? Are you a runner only if you run a certain number of miles per week? Maybe it's only if you run in races.

I've been running now for over two years. While I don't consider myself a good runner and I'm certainly not a fast runner, I think I qualify as a runner because I truly enjoy running. I look forward to it. I feel good when I finish running and I feel good about the acccomplishment of becoming a runner.

I haven't run any races yet (though I plan to); I don't run the whole time, although I have run three miles without stopping before; I run slow (about a 12 minute mile so far). And yet, I consider myself a runner and I'm proud of that.