Congratulations! I ran my first half in April, and am training for a second in August. I used a 16 week beginner plan, which was nice because it added mileage very gently and left me plenty of time figure out how to handle pacing, fueling, and whatnot. http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Half-Marathon-Tra...

Now I'm doing Hal Higdon's intermediate plan http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51132/Half-Mara... . So far it's not too much more intense than the beginner plan, but it does include speed work (intervals and tempo runs).

I'd definitely recommend doing some strength training. I did 1.5-2 hours a week of circuit training with weights that included many squats and lunges, and I think it gave me a lot more butt and leg power than I would have had otherwise.

Training was a slog, but the actual race was SO much fun! I think my favorite part was the littering - there's just something really satisfying about getting to crush a paper cup of water and hurl it to the ground.

Marlowe the boneless lap blanket:

"Extremely sad but with enough fortitude to eat cheese, if there's cheese" is his go-to expression for dreadful things like costumes or baths.

WHO rides there so late through the night dark and drear?
The father it is, with his infant so dear;
He holdeth the boy tightly clasp'd in his arm,
He holdeth him safely, he keepeth him warm.

"My son, wherefore seek'st thou thy face thus to hide?"
"Look, father, Dick Nixon is close by our side!
Dost see not Dick Nixon, with crown and with train?"
"My son, 'tis the mist rising over the plain."

"Oh, come, thou dear infant! oh come thou with me!
Full many a game I will play there with thee;
On my strand, lovely flowers their blossoms unfold,
My mother shall grace thee with garments of gold."

"My father, my father, and dost thou not hear
The words that Dick Nixon now breathes in mine ear?"
"Be calm, dearest child, 'tis thy fancy deceives;
'Tis the sad wind that sighs through the withering leaves."

"Wilt go, then, dear infant, wilt go with me there?
My daughters shall tend thee with sisterly care
My daughters by night their glad festival keep,
They'll dance thee, and rock thee, and sing thee to sleep."

"My father, my father, and dost thou not see,
How Dick Nixon his daughters has brought here for me?"
"My darling, my darling, I see it aright,
'Tis the aged grey willows deceiving thy sight."

"I love thee, I'm charm'd by thy beauty, dear boy!
And if thou'rt unwilling, then force I'll employ."
"My father, my father, he seizes me fast,
Full sorely Dick Nixon has hurt me at last."

The father now gallops, with terror half wild,
He grasps in his arms the poor shuddering child;
He reaches his courtyard with toil and with dread,--
The child in his arms finds he motionless, dead.

- "Der Erlkönig" Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Sudden Onset Puppy Head is a common condition in my household too.

puppy belliiiiiiiies! (is something I probably shouldn't squeal in a shared office)

Yeah, a thread of costumed animals is just what I need today.

My contribution, a very begrudging dinosaur -

I bought "Death at SeaWorld" in an airport on my way to a family river rafting trip, and spent a lot of time outragedly reading bits of it at them. My review: A+, would harass my loved ones with it again.

"Come to SeaWorld, we probably don't torture whales! That's literally the best thing we have to say about ourselves! Please stop asking questions!"