On Feb. 18, 2018, Texarkana will be holding the Run The Line half marathon. 13.1 miles of running is asking a lot for most people and requires lots of training to be prepared for the big day. In preparation of this event, I have been on a strict schedule of running and other workouts to make sure I am prepared to do my best. 

Running that many miles may seem insane to many, but it’s more than worth it. Through training I’ve become much healthier and gained some control over my asthma.

My schedule is busy enough with school work, photography, friends and so much more, but living a healthier lifestyle and accomplishing a huge goal is something I’m more than willing to make time for. Every morning, I’m up running, doing yoga or some other sort of workout. Obviously, I wouldn’t be able to start out running the whole half marathon distance, so when I began running, I first ran shorter distances, like 2 miles, and I am slowly building up to longer distances throughout the training. The gradual increase in distance will help to build stamina to be able to run 13.1 miles all at once with little trouble. 

Another huge part of training is making sure I’m not only active, but also being healthy even when I’m not training physically. I make sure to get plenty of sleep and eat healthy and drink plenty of water. Getting enough sleep is crucial; if I’m too tired in the morning, I can almost guarantee that I will hit the snooze on my alarm and go back to sleep before I ever consider getting up and going to work out. Being a vegetarian and loving fruits and vegetables definitely makes eating healthy much easier. Keeping up on these aspects of training are as important, if not more so, than the workouts. 

This is not all to say that I absolutely love or even enjoy running, but I do love and enjoy what it’s doing for my life. I’m now more active, happier and healthier.