Sunday, March 25, 2012

We're Half Way There

Week 6 of half marathon training.

"Whoooaa we're half way there, whoooaa livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it I swear, whoooaa livin' on a prayer." - Bon Jovi

I have reached a place I never thought I would be. Simple as that. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be training for a half marathon, I'd run over 8 miles, I'd drop around 60 pounds, or really anything associated with what the first half of my half marathon training has been, I would have called you a cotton headed ninny muggins (Elf anyone?). I would have laughed in your face. But these last 6 weeks have been incredible. Watching the distance grow and grow, and simply getting out and running 4 times per week consistently... I have done things that are normally tough for me to do. And that makes me excited for what's to come. So as I look back on these past 6 weeks, I smile. For what has been, and what the next 6 weeks have in store. Bring it on.

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - 3 Miles
3.01 miles - 29:27 - 9:47 pace
This run was awful. I almost tripped over a gap in the sidewalk and ended up tweaking my calf a bit. I think being back at a mile high after the weekend away made it tougher. I had to stop and wait for traffic twice (cost me probably 30 seconds), had to stop for a second and catch my breath. Felt sluggish. Overall, a run to forget.

Wednesday - 4 Miles Pace
3.13 miles - 30:04 - 9:36 pace
A long, tiring, and exhausting day... and it hit 9:30 PM and I still hadn't made it out - so I mad to squeeze in a few miles before bed. I like running at night, but not this late. Also, I normally run clockwise around my neighborhood but tonight on a whim went counterclockwise, only to find that just about the entire loop. My calf still hurts from gracefully catching myself after almost tripping yesterday. I am talented. It's been a pretty rough start to this week - let's hope for a good run tomorrow gearing up for my 8 miler this weekend.

Thursday - 3 Miles
3.11 miles - 28:23 - 9:07 pace
I was secretly hoping for a good run to make up for the not so good last two. I got it! The fastest pace of any of my training runs over 3 miles. Splits were 8:53, 9:13, 9:18. My best pace of a training run was 9:27 and I beat that easily. I know I've said it before, but I love seeing the week to week progress. But now is when I start looking at overall progress. When I first started training, I was averaging somewhere between 10:20-30 pace. I have dropped another 10ish pounds during training. I am falling in love with running A LOT. Let's keep this momentum going this weekend - I'll need it.

Friday - Rest

Saturday - 8 Miles
6.25 miles - 1:03:11 - 10:06 pace, Volleyball
Decent run, but one of the stupidest moves I've made during training. I wanted to find a new place to do my long runs just to throw some variety in my life. I was aiming to do this earlier in the morning, but before I got to the place and started it was 11:30 AM. I couldn't find my handheld water bottle, so I brought my jug to keep in the car for before and after. So I set out on my run. It was already about 75 degrees and the sun was brutal. The first 4 were good, but then I started feeling super tired. Mile 5 was brutal. I kept telling myself to push through, but by the time I hit 6 it was bad. So I decided to listen to my body and walk the almost 2 miles back to my car - I simply ran out of gas. I haven't felt that dehydrated in years. I took a lot of things away from this run that will help moving forward. At the end of the day, when I am slightly disappointed with a 6+ mile run, life is pretty good. After I rested for a little bit and got something to eat and drink, I played about 3 hours of volleyball at Wash Park. I've never seen so many people there! What a beautiful Saturday :)

Sunday - Cross
Rest
Yesterday, I thought Sunday would consist of running the remaining 1.75 I was short from my long run. I woke up today and every muscle in my body is sore. Like if-I-move-3-inches-I-am-in-pain sore. Running isn't going to happen. Doing anything for cross training isn't going to happen. Taking the day off and going to the zoo. :)

1 comment:

  1. HALFWAY THERE! WOOOO!!! So excited and so proud of you... and yes, rough runs suck. But they also help you appreciate the good ones. :)

    GET IT!

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