Motivational Mondays (April 5)

In less than two weeks, I will my second half marathon ever. It is actually the same half marathon I ran last year, the Run Through Redlands.

It's quite motivational to see all of the progress I've made in just one year.

Last year, my double-digit runs consisted of one 12-miler and one 10-miler. This year, I've hit double digits every weekend save for one, and two of those runs were north of 20 miles.

Last year, I set an unrealistic goal of trying to finish in under two hours. This year, I've set my sights on breaking the two-hour mark and even if I don't get it, I'm going to give it a run for its money and have a great time in doing so.

Last year, I was not feeling confident in the weeks leading up to the half marathon. This year, I'm dying to run it and my confidence runneth over.

I haven't been specifically training for the half marathon until recently. I had been, of course, training for Surf City and then recovering for it, and even though I've been hitting the hills hard the last 3-4 weeks in preparation for Redlands, I've done so with an eye on a possible summer date in San Francisco. But when you run 14, 15 miles and finish with energy to spare, when you rattle off 22 miles and 26.2 miles, when you beat your 5K PR by two minutes, it can instill a bit of confidence.

Usually I try and remain humble and grounded. I don't want to act like I'm some great runner or anything. But I think know that in two weeks I might will put together a strong performance in Redlands, and as I wrote above, if I don't crack the two-hour mark, it won't be for lack of trying.