OFFICIAL: Crawlin Crab Half Marathon

It is official.  I made it legit yesterday.  I signed up for the Crawlin Crab Half Marathon in Hampton.  It will be my first half marathon.  I am very excited and also scared shit-less.  I really shouldn't be because I have been increasing my mileage successfully and have hit 8 miles this past weekend and also PR'ed my 5K on Tuesday.  It's funny that fifteen dollars of savings was the reason for me to sign up but I also wanted to sign up because they say once you sign up that forces you to commit to your goal.

My goal is 12 minute miles or a 2 hour 42 minute race.  I have been running faster than that on average but I know 13 miles is much longer.  My training program is in the "intermediate" model instead of the beginner model.  I didn't want to do the beginner because I knew I wanted to get my body strong enough to handle the race.  I don't want to feel weak by mile ten.  I want to feel strong the whole race and enjoy it.  I have had friends that didn't train enough for whatever reasons and were miserable.  I want the exact opposite.  I am not doing this as an extreme goal.  I am doing this to be healthy.

The good thing is this.  I will have my wonderful wife there to support me and my kids.  I will probably also have my mom in town too.  My Aunt and two cousins are also running, which will be great.  They are all skinny fellas and probably be drunk by the time I am done but whatever.  My one cousin has done basically every hardcore running event you can think of including ultra marathons.  But I am excited that my aunt and cousins decided to pick their fall half marathon to co-exist with my first half.  its pretty cool to have some family supporting your goals.

Right now I am basically at 70 pounds weight loss.  I would like to be at 80 for the race.  Very do-able but just need to keep on task.  My running schedule is changing a bit right now because Lori went back to work today for the first time since maternity leave.  But i will work around our schedules and the babies.  I can always run at night around the lake.

Good thing is I have some good races before my half.  I plan on running the 9.11 Memorial run at the Dismal Swamp park (9.11 miles).  It's a few weeks before the race.  I also plan on running the Neptune's 8K the weekend before.  It will be perfect for the week before race.

Long term goal: Run the Shamrock Half and 8k AKA the Dolphin Challenge next year and god willing (aka body willing) the DETROIT FREE PRESS MARATHON.  If I am going to run a marathon, it's got be my hometown marathon.  I ran the relay once and loved it.  I am also hoping to have friends run a relay team with me to keep me going.  Hopefully, if I do it, I can raise a few bucks for a charity of some sorts.  So there you have it.  I put it on paper.