Countdown from 30

My little countdown widget on the side of my page is finally no longer showing months. It's now telling me there are 30 days until my very first half-marathon. I am both excited and terrified by this.

Since Tuesday night is cross-training night and I don't have anything fun to report (other than that it was hot as blazes in the cardio room at the gym!), I thought I would take this moment, 30 days out, to talk about why I chose to run this particular race as my first half-marathon.

Before I lived in Chicagoland, I lived in Champaign, Illinois. If you've clicked on the link for the Illinois Half-Marathon under my Race Calendar section and read a little bit about the race you'll know that this race takes place partly in Champaign. You'll also know it's the inaugural marathon/half-marathon event for the town. One of the sponsors of this event is the Second Wind Running Club. This is the running club that hosted the Beginning Women's Running Group that got me hooked on running in the first place. Even though I've since moved away from the area, I felt it was my duty to give back to them in the form of participating in this event.

My parents, my sister and her family, and some of my friends all still live in Champaign-Urbana. Many of them have supported me in my running and are looking forward to cheering for me as I run this race. The thought of having such a support group was too wonderful not to pass up.

Kristen asked in my previous post what it's like to run with no elevation gain. I can't really answer that because I've only ever run in the flat lands of Illinois. As I mentioned, I began my running hobby in Champaign which is just as flat, if not more so, as Chicagoland. If you're going to attempt your very first half-marathon, why not do it somewhere you're familiar with? I may not have run the exact roads this course will traverse, but I've run on ones in the same area.

Overall, I want this event to be everything the Second Wind Running Club is hoping it can be. Silly as it may sound, I think my participation is one little piece of putting this race on the map.