Diary of an overweight runner - 3 weeks till Disney!

The Disney Half Marathon is now less than 3 weeks away (20 days to be exact) and I realized I haven't talked about my training much since this post almost a month ago. Since then I have done a 10 miler and as of today a 12 miler with a few 8 milers thrown in. A few notes on the last few week's worth of runs.

10 miles
Two weeks ago I set out for 10 miles. Honestly, it wasn't the worst. I was familiar with the trail and a pre-mappped my route, which was out and back, so I knew exactly where I was going. I had a little mental self-concious thing with this speed walker who I would pass when I jogged and then she would pass me when I walked and when she was in front of me she KEPT LOOKING BACK AT ME. C'mon trail etiquette police, isn't that totally rude to keep looking back at someone?! So I hit about 2-3 miles in the middle of my run a little too hard trying to pass her a few times, which is my own damn fault, but it also caused me to need to walk the last mile or so. I still finished 10 miles in approximately 2:34 - well within the time limit for Disney.

However, about an hour after my 10 mile run I got what I can only assume was a migraine. We're talking laid out on the couch, can't move, nausea inducing migraine. I often get headaches after I run, but I've never in my life (even outside of running) had a migraine like that before. It was so bad I got physically sick. All I could do for 4 hours is lay in the dark with the TV on mute and a cold wash cloth on my face and neck.

I'm pretty confident it wasn't a hydration issue since the week leading up to the run I was nailing hydration with 130 ounces the Friday before the run. I also carried about 25 ounces with me and drank 80 ounces in the hours after the run. I did decide to try a new routine the next long run.

8 miles
This was a good run. I was able to pretty much keep my 1/2 mile run, 1/4 mile walk intervals up and averaged approximately a 15 minute mile. I also had no headache after this run! I changed my routine and I hope this solves the issue going forward. Normally, I would just get up, get dressed, grab a peanut butter sandwich and immediately go out the door the mornings of my run. Last week; however, I got up about 30 minutes before I wanted to get dressed, had a cup of coffee, a glass of water and "woke up" before getting ready and having breakfast before leaving. It seemed to help because no headache last week or this week.

12 miles
Today was 12 miles and let me tell you I was NOT looking forward to it. Earlier this week I had an allergic reaction to amoxicillin and my run schedule got off pushing this run to Sun instead of Sat. Even though I got to sleep in yesterday, something about doing a very long run on a Sunday is not fun. I think my mental attitude really threw me off. I could not keep up with my 0.5/0.25 intervals even a few miles in, so I went to 0.25. Around mile 6 I hit a wall and was just kind of done. 6 miles into a 12 mile run is really early to hit a wall! I walked a lot between miles 6 & 7, ran normally miles 8 & 9 and probably less than mile 10. Then I straight up walked the last two miles. My time still came in at approximately 3:01 - hallelujah that is still 15 min per mile and way under the Disney time cap, but part of me still felt defeated. Sometimes, I feel I can just walk faster than my tired jogging shuffle where my feet are barely leaving the ground takes me. My feet hurt the last 5+ miles, I have blisters and my water bottle leaked all down my back. But it's done and now it's onto taper...oh taper how I love thee.

Fastest 5K time
So y'all don't think I just complain all the time, I'm gonna tell you about my fastest 5K time, which was an unexpected surprise since I haven't really cared about my overall speed this training cycle. Last Tuesday I worked from home because I had a terrible cough and was sick of hacking all over my co-workers. So, I took the opportunity to do my run on my lunch break. The weather was perfect - chilly and just rained. The stars aligned and I was able to run over a mile straight TWICE during my run around the neighborhood. Once I realized I was kicking major ass, I decided to make that run my fastest 5K time. I ended up doing 3.1 in 41.47, which beat my August 5K time of 44.29, and walked very little of the run. Success!

So, 20 days and I'll be a 3X half-marathoner. I want a 13.1 sticker with Mickey Mouse ears around it. Surely they make those, right?