Hiking on the Appalachian Trail
I started running in July 2006 at the age of 36. I’d gone through a very difficult year and was severely depressed and knew I needed to do something positive, so I decided to train for a half-marathon. I never dreamed I would enjoy running as much as I do. I never dreamed that running would have such a profound impact on me–not just physically, but mentally and emotionally, too.
In December 2006, I ran my first half-marathon–the Thunder Road Half-Marathon in Charlotte, NC. I loved it! I ran my second half-marathon the following fall in Canton, NC. The Flying Pig will be my third. I don’t have a particular time goal yet. I ran my first half marathon in something like 2:15:00, and my second in 2:10:20. At this point, I just want to enjoy the experience of training, and drop a few pounds in the process.
Training officially starts for me on the first Tuesday of 2009. I’ll spend the first month or so doing mostly slow runs, building up my endurance. Starting in February, I’ll work more tempo runs into my training, then add speedwork and hills. (Of course, hills will be part of the training from Day 1 … it’s one of the benefits/curses of living/running in the mountains of western North Carolina.)
I alos do a lot of hiking and may do some trail running once the weather warms up. I’ve hiked several thousand miles of trail in my lifetime, including the entire Appalachian Trail and Vermont’s Long Trail, in addition to most of the hiking trails in my home state of Louisiana. When hiking, my “trail name” is “Waterfall” because I make water fall from the sky. It also seems to be my “blog name,” so when you see references to Waterfall on this blog … now you know why. 
Hope you enjoy following along as we train for the Flying Pig!
