About Chelsea...

Hey there! My name is Chelsea Owen, I'm 24 and live in Clearwater, Florida (yep, I live about fifteen minutes from the beach. be jealous.). My occupation? legal assistant and personal chef for the past year or so. My life is pretty tame, nothin' too exciting happens around here (example: a highlight from my past weekend was playing in the leftover ice behind our local skating rink with our youth group -- the Floridians version of a snowball fight). I don't usually...ok, I'll be honest, I rarely try something new if I don't think I have a chance at succeeding. So, this whole half-MARATHON endeavor has me scared. More than scared. You see, I'm not a runner. Never have been (I've attempted and failed). I love to be active and fit, but I have always associated running with torture (especially here where the heat and humidity play a huge factor...for me, at least) and have tried to find other ways (i.e. biking, roller blading, swimming, walking) to minimize the poundage, with little to no success. When Jocelyn talked to me about the Philly distance run, I brushed it off as a fun idea (I love to travel, and any trip with a best friend is pretty sweet), but there wasn't a chance I would undertake such a challenge ("Could I be a cheerleader and still come along?" "Nope," she said). Jocelyn is persistent...and persuasive. After giving it some thought (followed by a heart-pounding-I-don't-know-about-this moment) and listening to my friend tell me she KNOWS I can do it, I realized that I should put myself out there and give it a shot. And thus, my running adventure has begun. As of today, my goal is to run four times a week (I average three) around our 5k loop to get into a "groove" before starting my official Runner's World training plan. Believe it or not, I'm actually beginning to enjoy my jogs...maybe, just maybe I can do this. It certainly doesn't hurt to TRY.

Philadelphia Distance Run here WE come! :)