Welcome to Slackersville!

Population: 1.

This is going to be a fun week! I feel like such a cheater because I don't have massive miles to run this week (except for Saturday, of course). And I am taking 100% rest days on Thursday & Friday. What will I do with all that extra time??

I only did 30 minutes on the bike tonight, but yet I feel totally guilty! I do need to take some of that extra time this week to figure out what I'm going to wear on Saturday, and come up with a race strategy.

Um, dudes. I just went back & looked at the very bottom of this page at the mileage I was pulling in October. Uh, yep. You could say I've come quite a ways since then!! ha! I am "only" supposed to run "only" 2 miles on Wednesday this week, and I've been thinking about how "short" that is, and how it will not even feel like a workout. If you had told me back in October that I'd feel that way, I'd have fallen over dead. I guess it's all relative.

1 Week left!

yes, only one week left until my first ever half marathon. I totally have this in the bag! :)

Ran 10 miles last night. Was a little unsure about whether to run it because earlier this week I was plagued by some arch pain. But it went great, and I felt really strong, so I have no question about doing well next week. Last night 10 miles in 1:48 which I'm pretty happy with. It was very windy and a little warm so I stopped several times for water and was not really pushing my speed at all, but still really happy with my time. I still predict I'll finish in 2:25 or better.

9 more days...

And unfortunately, my left arch is hurting. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do the 10 mile run tomorrow. I've got a few other aches & pains too, but the arch is the most problematic. I've been eating every damn thing in the house, too. Mostly it's just stress, but I will be glad to get the half marathon behind me to be honest.

2 weeks and counting!

There's 16 or 17 days left, depending on how you count the days. Ran 9 miles tonight in 1:40:01. Feeling really good about my chances of finishing in under 2:30. I think I'll end up around 2:25 or so. I know I have trained smart and I am totally prepared for this. Kind of wierd, but I only have one more long run between now & the race. Still don't know how I'm supposed to get from 10 miles the week before the race to 13.1 on race day. But I have to have faith in the training plan.

So when I ran 8 miles a couple of weeks ago, I felt like I could go 9 with no problem. Tonight when I ran 9, I felt like 9 was PLENTY! Did not think I could have gone 10 tonight. I've been running without the mp3 player and I have adjusted to that with no problems. I had noticed it was just becoming background noise anyway, so I'll definitely be able to do the race without it. It does get a little uh, I don't want to say "boring" because that's not the right word. But after a while, I'm just ready to be done and back home.

A Rather Blustery Day

Man, is it windy out there today or what?!?! I'd rather have no wind and 30 degrees than windy and 70. Crazy, but true!

So here's the quick update in a nutshell:
a) job is settling down a little -- praise Jesus!
b) diet is pretty much completely derailed at this point (and I don't care)
c) training is right on schedule
d) leg is about the same. Not really getting better, but not getting worse. I'm just stretching and icing the heck out of it to keep it at bay as I continue to increase my distance.

But, some clarification on item b... it's not that i don't care, I just am not going to stress about it for the next month. I come home from work tired and stressed out, and I want to eat. Then I make myself (force myself) to run even though I'm so beat from work I can hardly stand it. My body then screams at me "FEED ME NOW" because the more I run the more I want to eat every last damn thing in the house! I keep thinking about the Saturday Night Live episode where Chris Farley and David Spade are dressed up like girls working at the mall, eating at the food court. Then Chris Farley was supposed to be on a diet but is stuffing his face. When David Spade says, Hey aren't you supposed to be on a diet, Chris screams "I'm starving!"

4 weeks until the BIG DAY

Just kicked butt on 8 miles. Could have gone another mile even. I can see the 13 now-- it's in my sights. Started taking a sports gel with the long runs and perhaps that is helping as well. I also ran today without my iPod and it was actually really nice. I know they are supposedly cracking down on the use of those, so I thought I would try to get used to running without one. Shouldn't be a problem.

An absolutely gorgeous spring day for running, sunny and 60. 11:00 pace today, finished in under 1 1/2 hours which INCLUDED the water & Gu stop I took, so I feel pretty good about my chances of finishing in under 2.5 hours.

Exhaustion sets in.

too tired to blog... too tired to run...