As a child, athleticism was a foreign concept. I was a lazy kid, always choosing watching television over playing outdoors. It wasn’t until I was 15 years old that I began to develop an interest in health and physical exercise. Researching common food ingredients and beginner-friendly exercises became part of my daily routine. Habitually, I consumed water, ate fewer foods that contain red dye, and made sure to exercise a minimum of three days per week. Fast forward to 2019, and I am now 21 years old and am running my first half marathon on Thanksgiving morning! This summer while writing down my goals for June, the idea of participating in a local race made its way onto my journal pages. I immediately dropped my pen and found myself searching for upcoming local races and found the INVESCO Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon and 5k. I registered, paying the $75 sign-up fee, and threw away the last bit of Oreos that lay beside my journal because I knew that it was going to successfully run 13 miles, then my eating habits were going to need readjusting.
I was already running 12 to 16 miles per week, so to increase my endurance, I added additional time to my cardio routine. This helped to increase my heart rate naturally, so that I could run a little faster and a lot longer. As for my diet, I limited the amount of processed foods going into my body. Too many processed carbs and fats and make you feel drowsy and impair the body’s ability to energize itself. Thus, fish and vegetables such as carrots, green beans, and spinach have been my go-to foods. These foods are high in healthy fats and nourishing nutrients that will most certainly carry me, and anyone else preparing for a long-distance run, through 13 miles of cardio exercise. Now, occasionally, I did treat myself to an Oreo or two. Cheat days are important and shouldn’t be neglected.
The number of days until the big day is winding down, but there isn’t an ounce of doubt that I am going to finish this race in under three hours. There’s a saying that goes “if you come prepared, you don’t have to get ready”; and I must say I have done a great job preparing for this monumental moment of my life. I’m ready.