Today is the first first blank page of a 365 day book....well not so blank anymore!

Darren and I see 2014 in in a quiet way. Dinner and a movie (secret life of Walter Mitty) before going to bed around 10.30pm. With none of our teenage boys home for New Years, it was quiet in the house, and I was fairly tired anyway. It was rest day from training, but I still love my sleep. I heard midnight come and go, and I think our neighbourhood celebrated for hours; crackers and fireworks were non stop. Morning finally arrived and I got up. It was just after 6.30; weather was awful. Drizzle, wind, but still mild. Training today! NO excuses!!!

Darren has to go to work, unfortunately, and I look at our itinerary seeing a hole or 2 where we MIGHT be able to fit in another run or 2. A few emails later (must ensure there are finishers medals) and we are now registered to complete the Wangaratta half marathon in February, Port Augusta half marathon in June AND the most exciting one (it's on my birthday AND we get to catch up with our longtime friends) Port Macquarie in March! Flights booked, just need to sort out accommodation for Port Augusta, as Wangaratta and port Macquarie is already sorted! 

Darren gets home from work and he is not up,for a run. I look out at the weather, but it doesn't quite deter me. I ❤️ To run in the rain!! I set out with my training plan ready to guide me.

Before long, I am cooling down, and enjoying the light drizzle. The wind was horrendous; I was almost going backwards at one stage! But I did it, and it wasn't too bad at all! Training is what makes those events so enjoyable!

Personally, I am trying to complete a half marathon in under 2 hours this year! I know I have a lot of training to get under my belt, and I must continue to eat well, and hydrate. I love my BCAA products after a run, no soreness ever again!

Darren however, is a machine! He can just run and run, lots of training or little training, he can just go and go! I really think he could do a half marathon in 2 hours, watch this space!

Happy new year, thanks for sharing our journey xx

Training begins!

So, I walk through the door after work; pumped! Today is day 1 of training. No more excuses! Christmas food, weather, tired...NO more!! I've been looking forward to putting my runners back on all day! Darren is already home and says he just wants half an hour to relax first! Uh-uh!!! No way! We change and head out the door.

The first kilometer is always the hardest. Darren tells me at 500m mark that he is puffed! I remind him that tonight's run is supposed to be slow. It's all about getting some kilometers into our legs; after all, it's only 13 days till our first half marathon. After the first km we settle into a nice slow pace and slowly the km's add up. After 4km's we are back home for water, then straight back out the door again. We finish feeling strong; that amazing feeling that I get when I run is alive again! We have a cool down walk and drink water. No injuries; we are on track!

Our updated itinerary

Our half marathons have been chosen very carefully! They all include a finishers medal, and a few weeks rest in between!

Hobart-Cadbury Marathon

Canberra-Australian Running Festival

Barossa Valley-Barossa Marathon Running Festival

Broome-LJ Hooker Broome Marathon

Alice Springs-Alice Springs Running Festival

Sydney-Blackmores Sydney Running Festival

Port Douglas-Great Barrier Reef Running Festival

Melbourne-Melbourne Marathon Festival

Port Augusta-Pichi Richi Marathon

Port Macquarie-Port Macquarie Running Festival

Wangaratta-Wangaratta marathon and fun runs

If this isn't enough, I am also registered to walk 60km to support The Weekend to end Women's cancer (for which I need to raise $2000) AND darren and I have registered to ride 200km in The Weekend to Conquer Cancer! (For which we need to raise $2500 EACH!!!).  

We have also registered to participate in some smaller runs (10 and 15km's). It's going to be a BIG year!  We can't wait to share our stories with you all!

Our goal for 2014; a half marathon in every state and territory in Australia!

Darren loves a medal! If we are thinking of registering for a run, that's one of the first questions he asks. The first half marathon we ran earlier this year was in Alice Springs. We were discussing whether to register for the Sandy point run and THE question came up, after all it was going to be the day of his 50th birthday on the day. I remember looking up the website, seeing there were no finishers medals and Darren deciding there and then that we had to find a run to complete for his birthday that would see us receiving a medal!! It's all history now. We flew to Alice Springs from Melbourne, yes just to complete a run and receive a medal. It wasn't quite as easy as that though. We were to run in our first half marathons, and we had little training under our belts! Having never been to NT before, we decided to see Uluru the day before our run, which meant we only had 4-5 hours sleep the night before. Darren finished in under 2:30, and I was 3 minutes 40 over that time. It was pretty emotional, running through the finish line with my hubby and Steve Monaghetti there! 

And so the half marathon bug has bitten us. Darren came up with this marvellous idea that we should run a half marathon in every state and territory in Australia next year. I agreed it would challenge us, mentally, physically and emotionally. But the planning began.

And so, here I sit, just a few weeks out from our first trip for 2014. We are running in Hobart in the Cadbury Half marathon. This will be a place where we can update you with our progress as the year takes shape, from Hobart, to Canberra, Broome to Alice Springs, Port Douglas to Sydney and the Barossa. 

Most of our flights and accommodation are booked, and yes, we are looking forward to collecting our finishers medals from each and every one of them!