Week 1 post ING Georgia Half Marathon

Welcome to Run4Fun2.blogspot.com! My two primary objectives are to lose weight and complete my first marathon. I had hoped to complete my first marathon by age 30, but pregnancy postponed that dream. Years later I resumed training, signed up for a race, but was forced to withdraw before even starting due to a torn ACL and meniscus. After recovering from ACL replacement/meniscus repair, my new goal was marathon before age 40. But unfortunately, a new meniscus tear postponed my dream to hopefully, marathon at age 40. I'm beginning to blog my journey here.

It's been one week since my last half marathon (3rd this year) and I'm reverting to recover mode. Then I plan to slowly build back up in mileage because I think I overdid it during the past 2 months. I truly think I pushed too hard too soon after my meniscus injury. I ran twice last week, 2 miles on Friday and 3 miles on Sunday. I plan to jog 3 times next week with a planned total of 10 miles. I'm registered for the 2009 Walt Disney Marathon (January 11, 2009). It will be my first marathon, unless I decide to pick another one in October to do as well.

Here's a brief history of my races so far this year...

Wow... I completed the ING Georgia Half Marathon on 3/30/08 faster than the 2 other Halfs that I've done this year. 2:28:04. It was a chilly 45 degrees, but felt good running. I couldn't stop shivering afterwards though. Thankfully the rain stopped about an hour before the race began. I ran for 65ROSES, on behalf of my friend Susan. The emotions were overflowing. Crowd support was awesome, especially the garage bands! We are still accepting contributions, so if you'd like to make a 100% tax deductible contribution, go to http://www.milesforcysticfibrosis.org/ and donate in my name: Samantha. The photo to the left is of me and Susan at my 40th birthday dinner celebration, 3 days before the race. I am grateful that many of my friends, and their daughters, helped me celebrate being "over the hill". Now if I could only run over-the-hill faster...

My second half marathon of the year was the Sarasota Half Marathon on 3/2/08. Last summer I registered for the full marathon, but my injury in December caused me to down-grade to the half. I probably would have cancelled all together if my sister hadn't signed up to do the half just before my injury. I enjoyed the weekend get-away with Laura. My goal was to finish a little faster than the Run the Reagan. I succeeded with a time of 2:36:32. In most pictures, I was smiling!

My first half marathon of the year was the Run the Reagan Half Marathon on 2/16/08. I jogged it only a few weeks after resuming running after an injury. In December 2007, I tore my right medial meniscus and went through a series of three injections of OrthoVisc, which thankfully, helped tremendously. I did the Reagan as a test run to see if I'd be able to complete the Sarasota half marathon two weeks later. I felt good the first 6 miles but slowed down after that and ended up walking the entire last mile. I thought of my mom a lot during this race. It used to be held in October. I've run this race 3 times now. The first time I ran it was October 21, 1995. My mom's birthday is 10/20. I remember thinking of her a lot during that first Reagan. The second time I ran it was 10/11/2003. I ran that one with my friend Steve. I finished the 2008 race in 2:46:28, much slower than the previous two, but also less prepared. Although it was in February this year, I still thought of mom most of the way. I miss her!