It’s funny how each time you run you learn something new about your body and how it reacts to the training. My goal starting this week is to increase my weekly training to 4 miles each time I train. Yesterday I got on the treadmill for my training, and it turned out that getting to the 4 mile goal was harder than I expected. I assumed that since I ran 5.5miles straight on Saturday, it would easy. Unfortunately it took a lot of will power. I am learning that each day is a different day; sometimes you can’t assume because you were successful yesterday you will be able to complete your goal with ease today. Well thankfully I was able to will myself to 4 miles despite the difficulty. One down and two more training days to go before my long run on Saturday. ;-)

Yesterday was a busy day, I started out with work in the morning and then golf lessons in the afternoon. Golf lesson was so much fun, but it took a lot more out of me than I thought. Myself and Gillian, my girl friend, finished from golf lessons at about 4pm. Trust me all I wanted to do after that was take a long nap, then I received a call from Nate, my training partner. He called to tell me it was time to go running, all I wanted to do was tell him I was tired, but fortunately I didn't. We made plans to be at Castle Island, our training site, at 5pm.

Our run was amazing; I took my training to a new level. I ran about 5.5 miles straight before walking another 1.5 miles; altogether 7 miles. My longest distance so far. It puts me just a little over the half way point of the half marathon. This progress bolsters my resolve and belief that I can and will accomplish my goal of completing the race in September. In only a week I went from not being able to run 3 miles straight, without stopping, to running 5.5 miles, amazing how quickly your body adjusts to training.

By the way, the new gear I got to prevent the sweating helped out a lot. The under armor heat gear was very beneficial, it did the job it was advertised to do, it kept me cool during my run, also the head band kept sweat away from my face. Thanks to the representative at Olympia Sport. My next step it to get myself a new sneaker, I’m told that should help my knees, back and joints.

Today was a good day of working out. I took yesterday off, so I was determined to do a little more during my training. I ran about 4.3 miles and I walked .7 totaling 5 miles. The start of the run was a little rough; the first mile was extremely difficult. Fortunately I had you guys as motivation. I kind of felt like you all were watching me so I pushed through, when I eventually got my second wind, I worked my way all the way to 4.3. I am beginning to realize that this run is going to take a lot more mental fortitude and strength than I thought. At first I thought it'll be 50% mental and 50% physical, I am beginning to think that it might need more mental strength than physical. Those of you who have done this before, please feel free to weigh in on this, I would love to know what you think the ratio is.  

By the way, I need some advice here guys; while running I sweat so much its almost ridiculous. I don't mean to be gross, but my whole shirt gets so soaked that there is no dry space left on it; also my towel gets so wet I can't use it after a while. Can any runner relate to this? I don't sweat that much regularly. I was so disturbed by it that I went to the sports store today to get a sweat band and following the rep's. advice I purchased an under armor shirt that supposedly cools you down and repels UV rays.

I am a little apprehensive about tomorrow, I'll be running on castle Island with my friend who is the marathon runner, So I know I'll be running faster and a lot farther; I can't wait to tell you guys how that goes. ;-) 

My First Half Marathon

For those who don’t know me, my name is Osayi. I decided to create this blog to journal my experience of training and running my very first half marathon. The half marathon to most people is not that long, but to me, 13.1 miles will be the longest race I have ever run. It shatters my longest run by 8 miles. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate running, but I just can’t see myself running that far and that long. I am currently 224lbs, not what you would call a typical runners weight, so needless to say my joints don’t enjoy it too much.

Before I start journaling my experiences, here’s how my desire to run this race all began. A month and a half ago, my girl friend told me her and her friends were thinking about running the East Hampton half marathon and she thought it would be a good way for me to bond with her friends, in my mind a game of scrabble would certainly suffice as a good bonding method. But since I love a good challenge and hate backing down from anything, I decided that I would do it. After I determined that it was something I would do, I consulted with my friend who ran the Boston marathon earlier this year. He was more excited than I was, he told me he would help me train and as a matter of fact he would run the race with me, making it even harder for me to back down.

I made my decision official by registering for the race on Thursday last week. On Saturday my training began, that’s when reality set in. I was unable to run 5 miles straight without stopping to catch my breath several times, granted it was a hot day but I was really disappointed and to be honest increased my doubts of actually running the whole 13.1 miles. Well irrespective of my mishap on my first day of training on Saturday, I ran 3.25 miles on Tuesday and 3 miles yesterday after playing some tennis. I would post my proposed schedule on my next blog. Please feel free to drop some advice for me; I need all the help I can get. Also a little cheering on wont hurt. Thanks for following in this journey with me.