I like to think of myself as an athletic person. I do hot yoga, recently started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, love to bike and have a regularly used gym membership. That being said, I am by no means a "runner", at best I am a slow jogger who usually has to walk a portion of any lengthly run. My definition of a lengthly run is anything over half a mile.

The farthest I have ever "run" is just over 3 miles, while participating in fundraising 5K fun runs. For me running is such a chore, it seems never ending and monotonous. So why in the world would I sign up to run a half-marathon? Because I also like to think of myself as a philanthropist, and my place in the New York City 1/2 Marathon will be thanks to Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County.

Here's the deal: I raise $1000 for Habitat Bergen, and I get to participate on race day- March 17, 2013 which also happens to be my 30th birthday. So this opportunity seems like the perfect way for me to do something I love (contributing to a great cause), and something I never thought I would be capable of doing (finishing a 1/2 marathon).

My good friend (who happens to be an ultra-marathoner, iron man competitor and personal trainer) worked up an 8 week training schedule to get me from slow jogging a mile to finishing the 1/2 marathon. My goal is to finish in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Yesterday (Sunday, Jan. 27th) was day 1 of my second week of training. 

I'll keep posting about where I am in my training, and fundraising efforts. If you are interested in sponsoring me you can use the link below to donate to Habitat Bergen.

https://secure.toolsfororgs.com/habitatbergen.org/marathon/sponsor.php?HFHB-SMG