I’m continuously thinking of ways to improve this blog. I was wondering if more personal entries have a place here. Maybe they do, maybe not. But I figured, no one has to read it, so I may as well write it!

Last year Becky and I ran the Monster Dash in St. Paul with a couple of friends. It was a 10-mile race in full costume. We kicked some major shell as the Ninja Turtles. It was a blast. But training for the 10 mile run was difficult. I used to be a pretty successful cross-country runner in high school, but I’ve gained weight since then and now it seems the impact of every step hurts that much more. I generally prefer interval running or shorter distance runs of about 2-3 miles, but this seemed like a new and fun challenge.

Training was pretty brutal on my legs and feet, and I had some doubts that I’d be able to do it. But with race-day adrenaline and a little competition with my wife, I found the race itself to be much easier than the training.

We were about to finish the 10-miler when funny thing happened – I saw the course split in two – one way to the finish line, and another for the half-marathon runners. I was compelled to keep going. What’s 3 more miles when you’ve already gone 10…

For the time being I was content to finish the 10-mile run side by side with my wife. It was new personal distance record and something to be proud of. But I left that day with a new goal of running a half-marathon. So after my friend (Raphael) told me about the half-marathon he will be running this summer I chatted with Becky (who is incapable of saying no to a challenge) and we decided to run our first half-marathon in Minneapolis this June 3rd.

If you see me hobbling around the next couple months it is probably because I just ran 10 miles or something.

Are we going to see anyone else there on race day? Have any running advice?