Update on Half Marathon Training

I haven't really updated since my 9 mile run a few weeks ago, but I've logged approximately 35 miles since that run. Crazy.

The week after I did 9 I had a "rest week" and did 6. It was the best run I've had all season. I ran a familiar course at the greenway near my house and pretty much killed it. Here are my stats:


See that pace? 13:17 minute miles! For someone that was logging 15 minute miles just a few months ago, that is big....BIG!

Coming off that run, I felt in charge and rejuvenated for my higher mileage week to come. I should have known better. Because typically every good run is followed by a bad run.

Since I only 6 over the weekend I wanted to log some higher miles during the mid-week in preparation for wanting to do 10 the coming weekend. I did a good 4.5 miler on Tuesday and 3.5 on Thursday rather than my normal 3 miles during the week.

The problem is, all last week I ate out and didn't really pay attention to what I was fueling my body with. I felt lethargic and wasn't looking forward to trying to do 10 in that state.

My plan was to get up Saturday and bust out 10 before having to be somewhere at 11. Yeah right. I woke up Saturday morning at 6 am and asked myself why I was trying to rush around Saturday morning when the rest of my weekend (i.e. Sunday) was free.

So rescheduled to Sunday it was. (Which, hello is a stupid decision on the weekend you SPRING FORWARD and lose an hour of sleep.)

But I dragged my lazy arse out of bed and eventually I decided to go out to do a course I did a couple times during my Disney half marathon training. It's pretty flat, but it does have some rolling hills on the later part of my out and back route I use.

Considering I ate a 9 course dinner on Saturday (no exaggeration), I felt like pretty crappy from the get go. I wasn't fueled properly and that made every step painful, but I kept repeating to myself "this pain is temporary, the pride I will feel from completing this run is forever."

I briefly considered only doing 8, and honestly since I'm a bit ahead of where I need to be for my race at the end of April it would have been ok. But I didn't want the reason why I couldn't do 10 miles to be because I ate and drank too much the preceding week.

So I went out 5 miles.

Honestly, it wasn't too bad once I got over the 4 mile mark. Of course the last few intervals were painful, but I'm a firm believer the end of every long mileage run should be difficult. That's when you're building your endurance up!

I ended up finishing just a little over 2 hours and 19 minutes. Another sub-14 minute per mile pace! Again, even two months ago I was running between a 14.5 - 15 minute mile.


I promptly went home, showered, ate lunch, and fell into bed. And didn't really move from there unless otherwise necessary until the next morning.

I don't know whether it was my post-run laziness or because I ran a sub-14 minute mile on a 10 mile run, but I. WAS. SORE. I can't remember the last time I was that sore. Today (Wednesday) is the first day this week I haven't felt my throbbing quads with every step. I even made it to my weekly gentle yoga class on Monday with little relief. I did a slow and easy 3 miles yesterday and I probably won't run again until Saturday.

I have to say, I've felt more in control of my running lately. Making sure I get in those mid-week runs really help. We're just about 6 weeks from race day and I can't believe it's coming up so soon!