If you have read the formerly posted piece, Runners On Your Mark, you may already know that never in my life did I think I would run “competitively” (I use that term loosely) again after college, let alone a half marathon. I was more of a mid-distance runner, maxing out at the 6k in college cross country (which was admittedly a bit short for me) and ran 800m and 1500m on the track. Runs over 4-5 miles were complete torture to me, so the thought of doing 13.1 was near impossible.

After a 7-ish year hiatus from regular running, and my weight hitting the highest it’s ever been, something needed to change. On a group text with a couple of friends from college, it was jokingly suggested that Jana and I who live in Pennsylvania should go visit Matt who lived in California at the time and run a half marathon while there.

Ha! I won’t even run a 5K for fear of embarrassing myself, a half marathon flat out isn’t happening! But after many discussions, I reluctantly agreed and we all signed up for the Monterey Bay Half Marathon in Monterey, California, which was taking place November 8, 2015.