Running with Dr. Leanna Blevins

Finishing her 1st half-marathon.

Leading up to the Martinsville Half-Marathon, 5K & Relay, Run MHC will feature the stories of other runners so you can hear different perspectives on how various people began running and what motivates them. Today's guest blogger is Dr. Leanna Blevins of Martinsville, VA. 

I started running around the time I turned 40.  I was never much of an athlete, so I didn't think I could be a runner.  I am, however, stubborn, so when some girlfriends and I decided to try to train for a half marathon, I figured it would be a physical commitment for a few months and then I could check it off the list.  What I didn't realize was that training and running is as much mental as it is physical.

I am a mom of 3 young children with a full-time job and various volunteer positions in the community.  I thought I was too busy to incorporate regular exercise into my life.  I made the decision to do it temporarily to train, and now I have decided to make it part of my lifestyle.  

Lifetime Record

I am 31 years old and yesterday I ran the longest distance that I have ever run in my life. EVER. It was the most amazing feeling, but before we delve into that I want to tell about the week.

If you want to test your dedication for running (or any hobby for that matter) see how well you fare in a polar vortex. Yes, we've now had two of them this winter. Days and days of freezing cold, ice, snow, repeat. There were days that I longed to run, days that I was willing to run if I had to and then days when asked if I was going to run my response was "No Way!"

After three weeks of continuously increasing my distance with each run I had been feeling great but the past week was just rough in more ways than one.

54 Days to Go - The weather was so nice. Temperatures were in the mid-50's and after publishing my friend Juan's guest post that morning, I was really pumped to run. In fact, I thought about it all day long and could not wait to get home for an afternoon run. An impromptu afternoon meeting kept me at work a little longer than I had planned to be there but it was OK, I'd still have time to do something.

When I arrived home I set out on my run, dressed for 50 degrees, and realized that the temperature was dropping rapidly as the polar vortex set in. My fingers, nose and ears all burned. I decided to pick up the pace and make the most of this one-mile route. I finished one lap at a pace of 9:21 per mile. This was a new personal record for that distance.

Let the Journey Begin

Repeat after me..."I can run a half-marathon... I can run 13.1 miles... I can do this."

That was the synopsis of the internal pep-talk I had a few weeks ago after Brad Kinkema, the Executive Director of the Martinsville-Henry County YMCA, asked me to run the Martinsville Half-Marathon. It wasn't the first time he asked... Brad has been asking me to run for two years now!

To give you a little background, as the Director of Tourism for Martinsville-Henry County, Virginia, I've had some involvement with the Martinsville-Half Marathon, 5K & Relay ever since it's inception in 2011. It's a very popular event and many out of town visitors participate in it. Each year I have served on the race advisory committee to assist with marketing of the event and arrange lodging/shuttle packages for visiting runners. On race days my staff and I have manned cheering/music stations throughout the route. There is a small army of staffers, committee members and volunteers behind the scenes that make these races a success. The Martinsville Half-Marathon, 5K & Relay is a fun event and there is such a positive energy in the air but up until now I have been perfectly satisfied with my role on the sidelines.

I'm not a true runner. I've participated in a few 5Ks before and even completed the Harvest Moon Run 10K in 2011 as a personal challenge but I'm not a formally trained runner. Each time Brad asked if I would run the half-marathon in the past I would just laugh.