New Look for BLWB

Are you loving the new blog layout? BLWB's VP of Technological Affairs (my husband) is designing some awesome icons, banners, and backgrounds for me. He created the banner at the top of the page, updated my around the web icons (upper right corner), and made a new background for my Twitter page! What an incredible guy!

Today was a "get through it" day. Something about my stomach felt off since this morning, and I powered through my classes, meetings, and cheer practice, plus an hour of traffic on the ride home. I was still a little iffy by 5:00, but I knew I would regret an unplanned day off from working out, so I lightened things up and completed the following:

• Elliptical (20 minutes, while reading my new book The Night Circus)
• 2 x 25 walking lunges
• 2 x 25 ball crunches
• 2 x 25 planks (1 minute for the first, 30 seconds with feet on the stability ball for the second)
• 2 x 50 calf raises

It felt good to get something in, and I didn't push my tummy too hard (low impact days are great when I'm feeling less than stellar). 

After my shower, I got started on a delicious dinner of turkey burgers, sweet potato fries, and spinach salad. I promise I'll share all those yummy recipes soon, but not tonight.

Tonight is all about our upcoming half marathon. One of my 2012 goals is to run my first half marathon. For those new to the running/racing world, like myself, here are some fun facts about half marathons:

• 13.1 miles or 21 kilometers
• Participation has grown recently
• It's half as difficult as a marathon and about three times more difficult than anything I've ever asked my body to do (I'm sure this statement will change if I ever get to give birth)

Okay, that was fun. So how are we going to tackle this bad boy? (I say "we" because you, as a reader, are now invested in my journey. Get excited.)

First priority: Get a new picture for these kinds of posts.

Step One: Choose a race. Which one is best? I found a site online for the 7 Best Races for First-Timers, and they all sound amazing. I've heard great things about the Disney Half, but that's not until September, and I think I want to do something in May or June. I found one I'd LOVE to do: Boston's Run to Remember in honor of fallen police officers. But the timing for this year's race doesn't really work, so hopefully next year. My dad was a police officer, and my mom was a police dispatcher, so I feel the cause is incredible!

Step Two: Choose a training plan. As fate would have it, one of my favorite blogs, Gina's Fitnessista, posted about her half marathon experience today! Crazy, right? So I read through her information and believe I have decided to use the Hal Higdon Novice 1 Half Marathon training schedule. 

Step Three: Get excited/anxious. I feel motivated and excited, of course, but that training schedule looks intense! I hope I don't get burnt out. I'm really glad the program includes cross training so that I can incorporate my yoga and some swimming.

Step Four: Get going! We start training on Monday, despite not actually knowing the date of our half. I promise I'll let you know what we choose ASAP!

• Have you ever run a half marathon? Any tips for a first-timer like myself? Any recommended races?
• Are you planning to run a race this year? What's your training plan?