My first 5K

Today I ran my first 5K, and that's a good a note as any to start my personal training blog on. Almost two years ago I ran/walked the Santa Clarita 5K, but this one (the Free To Breathe run in Los Angeles) was the first time I ran the whole way. That's an accomplishment I can be proud of.

Even better it what it means: I'm progressing on my plan to run a half-marathon in Santa Clarita this November. That was a commitment I made to myself on my 42nd birthday this year. With some trepidation, I could add. Not knowing much of anything about it, I just typed "half marathon training" into a Google search a few days after that commitment, and was lucky to find a lot of good material. I had no idea! I ended up following what Hal Higdon had to say about novice runners training for various distances, including a half-marathon.

That was pretty fortunate, because I learned later that Hal Higdon isn't just some hack, but instead he's one of the leading authorities on the subject. I just put his intro, 5K, and half-marathon training schedules back-to-back-to-back, and ended up with something that had me run this Free To Breathe 5K this morning. Although the goal of that half-marathon is VERY intimidating, I'm trying to maintain confidence in the training program, which I've been successfully following since the end of April. If it's got me this far, I can go the rest of the way, right?

Still, looking at the final 12 weeks of my training gives me the impression of jumping off a cliff. I think it takes a significant step up in intensity, and I just hope I can make it.