58 Days and Counting Down...

58 days and counting down. That’s how long we have until the 2012 Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon weekend. I’ve signed up for the half-marathon. If all goes well, it will be my third half-marathon since I ran my first 10K at last year’s Blue Nose.

Here’s what I love about running; it’s the most-social form of exercise you can get and, at the same time, it’s solitary. You can walk out your front door with your sneakers on and run a quick 5 K and still be home in time to make sure dinner is ready for the kids. Or, you can join a group and spend your running time with your new friends, old friends and your family and then get together for a coffee after the run to shoot the breeze.

I run with a group of people on Saturday mornings who have been getting together for years. I’m the newbie. I also run with the Running Room crowd occasionally and I’ve signed up with the new Lakeshore Running group in Sackville. My wife and I run together. As well, Moya and I try to get together for a run once or twice a week after work. It’s all free and it’s all outdoors. Perfect.

I’ve made a personal commitment to myself to sign up for a half-marathon or 10K every three or four months. That way I’m always working toward a goal and, hopefully, not falling off the fitness wagon.

It’s not too late for you to start training for the Blue Nose. In fact, with 58 days until marathon weekend, it’s the perfect time to start training for your first 5K or even a 10K. If you’re already running, a half-marathon isn’t out of reach either. Our long runs (once a week) are at 14K right now. I try to get 2 or 3 shorter runs in a week, between 5 and 7K. And then there’s hill training and intervals but lets not talk about those things right now. Just start running. If you’ve never run before, why not try the Running Room approach; run 1 minute and walk 1 minute to start and then stretch it out so that, eventually, you’re running 10 minutes and walking for 1 minute.

In the end, you’ll be able to say your part of the biggest sporting event in Atlantic Canada. This year, 12,000 people will take part in the Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon weekend. Why not make it 12,001.

Check out this video with highlights from last year's marathon to get you pumped!



Peter