National Half Marathon

Today's Run:
Distance: 5k
Time: 43:46
Pace: 8:42 per km
Sentiment: I have a long way to go before I'm back in shape. I think I'd lose in a foot race to the Biggest Loser contestants.

My dad is battling cancer. He is often frustrated because there is so little he can do. In our family, we struggle under circumstances that we can't control.

I live on the opposite coast from Dad, so it feels like there is even less that I can do. I continue to feel like there has to be something I could do about Dad's illness.

So I have decided to do the following:

1) I will qualify for the National Half-Marathon.

2) If I qualify in time to register, I will raise at least $1000 in my dad's name for the Lance Armstrong Foundation as part of the LAF Grassroots Fundraising Program.

3) I will complete the National Half-Marathon through Washington, D.C. on March 21, 2009.

4) I'll keep my dad, and whomever else is interested enough to follow along, updated about my progress through this blog.

There are a few obstacles. I have not yet qualified for the National Half Marathon, and I can't register until I do. My 2003 Chicago Marathon time would have qualified me if I could have finished it 11 minutes faster. My half marathon split would have qualified me, but they do not keep an official record of split times. I ran a 5k in preparation for that marathon that surely would have qualified me, but that race does not keep official results. I ran another 5k in 2004, but I missed the qualifying time by 1 minute 22 seconds.

So, the first goal is to qualify for the half-marathon by completing a "Super Bowl Sunday" 5k on February 1 in under 31:00. This is a 10 minute mile pace. Considering how long if took me to finish 5k this morning, this feels a little ambitious, but I'm determined. If I can't qualify on February 1, there is another qualifying race on March 1, at which point I will surely be able to come in under 31:00.

Hopefully, the National Half-Marathon will not fill up before I can qualify! The website says they will advertise when there are only 1,000 of the 8,000 spots remaining. Last year, they only had 4,000 finishers... so I hope my chances are good.