My blog is meant to be a ‘running’ commentary about my ‘jogging’ trials and tribulations (in addition to the moaning and groaning about daily life). But let me begin with an honest confession. I have not run a single race since July’s RAC 10km. Yes, I’ve done some runs at the gym, but no serious running training. Until now…

There are 193 days left until the 2012 Two Oceans Half Marathon. And I have decided to give it another go!

Phew…it gives me goosies just reading that back to myself. It’s a big deal for me, especially considering that for me, running a half marathon involves a lot more training and dedication than a simple 10km and because I have to ensure my running speed gets me to the finish line before that dreaded 3 hour cut off gun. (A gun, yes! It’s that dramatic!).

There are a few lessons I’ve learnt in the past 3 years of running Two Oceans that have prepared me for the 2012 race. The one is that I need to start training early in order to be fully trained in time for Oceans. The other lesson is that even if I manage to run 3kms in a day, it’s still more training than doing nothing at all.

So today was day one of my Two Oceans 2012 training.

I started with an hour’s run at the gym, clocking up 7kms. Mentally, this is a great start. It is important that I manage to run 7kms under 60 minutes. This will ensure that I run 21.1kms within 180 minutes in order to make the cut-off time.

I have always followed Coach Dave’s (RIP) training tips and so today, I did 2 minutes running, followed by 1 minute walking… (be honest Bron!)… 1 minute running, followed by 1 minute walking. As tough as some of those minutes were, I kept reminding myself that I have managed to conquer many half marathons already and have survived running for a solid three hours – one minute will seriously not kill me.

As with all things in life, I know that dedication and training will ensure I reach my goals and only I will know in the end if I have been honest with myself and have done enough.

Running is a very personal journey, especially if one has specific goals to reach.

I have one. I want to run the 2012 Two Oceans Half Marathon in 2 hours 45 minutes. *gulp* There. I said it!

Let the training begin! *my heart is beating so fast right now!*