You knew there'd be another...

We are 38 days away from my first half-marathon. Deep breath. 38 days. I can do this.

The last time I trained for a half-marathon, my plans were foiled by food poisoning during my birthday weekend - which also happened to be 2 weeks prior to the race.

I've made many jokes about not eating anything more than toast and peanut butter crackers, once I started training for this half, to avoid food poisoning again.

Well, hey there kids, guess who was in bed for 3 days this past weekend with a less-than-awesome case of food poisoning? Yours truly.

Luckily, getting sick 43 days out from the race means I have enough time to recuperate and get back on track with my training program. But you better believe that I'm starting that blandest-of-the-bland-foods diet starting now.

So, as for the title of this post, you knew there'd be another blog post about my half-marathon training progress. I have enjoyed training with my friends, while running alone. Allow me to explain...

Bobbie and I exchange stats following our latest runs. I happened to mention to her that when I'm running, and I feel like I just can't go on any more, I think "I need to keep running so that I can text Bobbie I ran without stopping!" I almost fell over laughing when I received the following:

I looped Emily in and added her to my group that I text before/after running. She received a lovely selfie, as a new member, and she replied with quite the cheer - which lead to a spring in my step - resulting in two 9.5 minute miles!

When I was hitting the North Carolina pavement - while home surprising my momma for her birthday - Dad had quite the sense of humor... [Mary is a nickname from my early dance competition days. Short version: I did a hip-hop dance routine to a rap version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" when I was in 1st grade]

And of course, no training team would be complete without my most consistent cheerleader! [Also, the one who gets every single teeny tiny update about my training]

I have to be honest, I'm always hoping for a "WHOLEY MOLEY" reply. Makes me feel like I did something super extraordinary!!

Bobbie sent the following inspirational little ditty, and I keep it on my phone as a reminder on the days when I just feel like I'm not cut out to be a runner.

Here's to a great 38 days of running ahead towards completing a goal! Let's do this!

xoxo, E