Welcome

Welcome and thank you forvisiting the Diva Runner blog - The Diary of a First Time Half Marathon Runner.  I am nervous and excited to begin my new adventure.   My goal - to begin training on March 14th for the Diva Half Marathon Race on August 21, 2011 in Vail, CO.  The race is 13.1 miles long and located at over 8,000 feet above sea level.  This is not going to be an easy task but I am up for the challenge. http://www.runlikeadiva.com/

To give you a little history about myself, I'm a mother to two great children, Jessica 22 and Ben 13 and a wife to my handsome husband Brad. For the last couple of years, I've been struggling with my weight, diet, hormones, fatigue, etc. You name it and I was feeling it.    I just felt so run down all the time.  After a couple of yearly physicals, I was diagnosed with the wonderful "M" word - Menopause.  Yes, you can go through this even if you haven't received your AARP card yet.  Up until today, nothing I did seemed to helped my "M" situation.   After my 2011 physical, my doctor told me to increase my exercise and try something different to increase my metabolism.  So here I am, trying something new to increase my metabolism.

I haven't been an avid runner since high school. (over 25 years)  My best friend of over 33 years, Robin, is a GREAT runner and I admire her for her strength and ability to run the various races that she does each year. She is a half marathon runner and has done both trail running and street races.  I will lean on her for guidance and wisdom as I train for this big event. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that our schedules will also allow us to run this race together.

You might be asking yourself, "OMG, what in the world made you decide to run a half marathon?  Why not take baby steps and see if you even like running and then decided to increase your distance?"  Anyone that knows me can tell you that I never start off a project in the mind frame of "small" but instead I'm always in high gear when I set my mind to do something.  So why should running be any different. 

I will be following the advice of a trainer and my best friend, Robin and I will stick to my weekly workout plans and not over do it.   I don't want to burn myself out before the race or hurt myself and not be able to compete.  I'm taking this new adventure very serious and I want to make sure my body and health are supervised so I can be in the best shape possible on August 21, 2011.

The purpose of my blog is to document my steps, defeats, frustrations, successes, weight loss, aches/ pains and running log throughout my five month journey to race day.   I am hoping that my story over the next five months might be an inspiration to others who have contemplated about trying something different and wanting to get healthy.   As a 43 year old woman, I know 50 is not too far away from knocking on my door. I don't want to approach my 50's or even 45 in the current health that I have been practicing.  

I'm looking forward to meeting new friends along the way and welcome any advice people have to assist me in my adventure.  This is going to be a lot of work.  I know some days are really going to suck and other days-- I will be doing a happy dance. 

Check back for daily updates to my blog as well as you can follow me on Face book & Twitter.

Thanks for your support and prayers. 

 Happy Running!