First Timer: Here we go!

So not only is this my first blog (so take it easy on me), it's my first time running long distances! Woohoo!
Okay, so as I'm sure my partner in crime will agree, this is all my fault. Everything always is, but this time I got us signed onto a team (TEAM WORLD VISION!) to run 13.1 miles with only about 3 months of training.
Good thing we were made to take wellness lab last semester :)
First, I'd like to state that I like running; might even love it! I like it even more now.
I started officially running in the 3rd grade when I began soccer, and then continue running through my senior year of high school with track. The funny thing here is that I was a sprinter. Long distance: bad news. I had just enough stamina to run my guts out for 400 meters and that was it. So I even thought of myself as crazy when I joined the Chicago Half-Marathon, but I wasn't about to be crazy alone.
I walked up to my friends and smiled (sincerely) at them and asked if any one had thought about running it. Most of them didn't even know what I was talking about. (There had been a whole presentation on it in chapel just that morning.) So I gave them the run down. They brushed it off pretty easily and told me that I was out of my mind, which I was but for good reason.
Now seeing as this is the blog "Team of Two Runners" obviously I convinced one of them. And she insists I guilted her into it by saying, "Think of how many children you can save!"
So we began training but had to leave school and go our separate ways, so we ended up training mostly on our own.
Well, my experience with training is this:
 Don't get head colds; you can't breathe. And if you can't breathe, you can't run.
 Don't injure your feet in any form or fashion. (I was our for 1.5 weeks thanks to a sprinkler head that bit my toe.)
 When it gets hot in the summer (like it really does in the South), run in the mornings! I still remember the day I found out (the hard way mind you)  that it was too hot to run in the evenings anymore.
 If you have breathing problems, complain to your doctor. Apparently, I have had exercised-induced asthma for who knows how long. Inhalers work and make it enjoyable again.
 Best thing you can remember: "When it gets hard, smile." It truly does help :)
 Other than all that, just keep going at it. It's hard, not gonna lie. But it's totally possible too.
 And find a drill-sergeant sort of friend who will yell at you to keep going. (To drill-sergeant friend: be as nice as possible in encouraging them...don't actually yell)

Well after all that came race day! It was fun. TOTALLY WORTH IT! And we raised a ton of money for clean water in Africa.

Who knew that all my coaches needed to do was find the proper incentive, and I would have run anything for them :) Shhhh! Don't tell them.

Over and out: Runner 1