Week 4 of Training

Week four of training for my half marathon has begun. I have finally reached the six mile mark and it only goes up from here. This Saturday was a beyond beautiful day and happened to be the day I go on my long run, allowing the anticipation of running for an hour to not be as treacherous as it initially sounded. I put on some running shorts and a tank, got my country music playing and set off. Uncertainty of where to run in order to reach my goal distance resulted in me running without a plan. I explored Auburn, passing by farms, going through woods, and ended with running through campus.

Fortunately for me, these runs fall on a Saturday where I essentially have all the time in the world, to go and explore wherever I want. During the week that is not the case. The biggest struggle I have come across is finding the time during the week days. Monday through Thursday I have one thing after another, and if I do have some down time it is used studying or if I am lucky, eating lunch. Most days the only chunk of time I have to exercise is late at night. Thankfully for me the gym is open until midnight. My friends think I am crazy when they see me heading to the gym at ten o’clock at night, but I made the commitment to do this and I’m not going to back off just because of time constraints. I actually find it relaxing to have my runs at night. It gives me an opportunity to release all the stress of the day and to just think. Not thinking about tests or people I am frustrated with, but think about the things that I have to look forward to and to realize how incredibly lucky I am to be where I am and doing the things I am able to do.

Every day I have a scheduled goal of how many miles I need to complete, at times it seems impossible because let’s be honest life gets in the way, but it’s the big goal I need to remind myself to look at. Reaching miles is just a smidgen of it, it is the big goal of accomplishing something I told myself “you can’t do” that will make all this effort worth it.

Hanna Bjork
Sophomore
Auburn University