Doin' the HALF

Due to recent health issues, I had to scale back on my running significantly. In the past week, I've had to knock it off completely. But, I'm eager to lace up and kick-start my training with 2-a-days at least twice a week. I'm now starting my half-marathon training after just trying to maintain a decent foundation of running over the past 3 months. I enjoyed wellness yoga class today, and I didn't realize how stiff and sore I was after maintaining 3 months of "study posture". Just settling into study posture for a few hours brings on those aches and pains again. It's the worst posture known to man, and yet, it's something we must endure so that we can take care of other people's spines...albeit we get plenty of practice on one another due to all the torture we put ourselves through!

I'm looking forward to finding a good 4-5 day a week training plan for the half. I want one that incorporates a lot of cross-training with swimming and core strengthening, but one where I can easily and safely increase my mileage every week. I was running 7.5 miles on my long days over 6 weeks ago. I have to work back up to that mileage, and surpass it for the half. I'd like to run the full race distance by the beginning of december, then taper off before the race begins. Tapering should coincide nicely with all the travelling I'll be doing over the holidays. If y'all can recommend a good half-training program, please shout it out!

Meanwhile, I'd like to direct y'all to a few of my favorite blogs of late:

• Blogging in Baghdad is by my friend Aaron who is spending a year in Iraq. He's overseeing some of the US Air Force personnel as they train the Iraqi Air Force to become their own sovereign Air Force. He's got some interesting tales of life in a war zone.
• Searching the Waters is by my friend Danny who's struggling with the challenges of life in the buckle of the Bible belt. I enjoy reading his stark and candid portrayals, and his rants about military life make me laugh. He's also spear-heading a monstrous task of an event called the Furious Fifty which has spurned yet another blog from Danny-boy.
• My almost-daily treat are the postings from Chris, the Rude Cactus. I love the photos of his daughter Mia, his Monday haiku's, and when he talks about his white trash neighbors. But, I especially love his humor about the rather mundane things in life.
• Zack & Jen at Chili Powder haven't been too active at posting until recently. But, their photos and descriptions of life in Austin make me nostalgic for my favorite city in the U.S.
• And, then there's the first blog I ever read on running. Jon is a chocolate lover with a running problem. His choclate reviews are quite helpful and accurate for my tastes . . . and I love to read running blogs. Jon is fantastically funny at times. For starters, check out his 100 Things.