By: Crissie Kirby
An old Chinese proverb says, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
And so, it would seem preparing to run a five-mile race also begins with one step.

I was overwhelmed by the support I received after posting my initial blog post about running in the LMC Heart and Sole Five Miler. I’ll be honest, even after posting that I was going to do it, I questioned whether I could really do it. Did I really want to do it? But, as anyone who knows me, once I say I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it, or die trying. Ok, maybe that’s not the best saying for right now.
The training guide said to start the week of February 15th. So, I set my sights on 2/15 and tried to mentally prepare for battle.
The 15th dawned cold and I had started coughing a few days before. (For me this almost always is a sure sign that bronchitis is on the way.) I honestly just didn’t want to do it. But I knew that if I made an excuse one day, I’d find reasons to keep making excuses, and April 25th would come with disastrous results.

I journeyed to Aiken for my first run. Why? Well, one of my dearest friends and supporters, Ivy Harmon, lives in Aiken and I knew that she would make me run. And she did. Fortunately, Ivy lives near beautiful and historic South Boundary, so we had a wonderful place for my inaugural training session. Fortunately, Ivy is more active than I am and she was able to really help and encourage me along the way.


For anyone in Aiken during my initial run, yeah, I’m sorry. I doubt it was very pretty, and I’m pretty glad that there wasn’t anyone who could hear some of the things running through my mind (yes, bad pun intended) during my initial run. But, you know what? I did it. I made it. I ran those six one-minute intervals. And I didn’t die.
So, on to the next steps.
