Counting Down and Adding Up

Counting down - today is officially 4 weeks 'til the San Francisco 1st Half Marathon!!!  This is when it starts feeling real for me, and when I usually start getting nervous.  Don't get me wrong, the nerves are there, but are currently being overridden by excitement, and, dare I even say it - confidence?!?!  My training's on track, and that's a great feeling.

Speaking of training, I'm slowly adding up the miles - yesterday's run put me over the 250 mile mark for the year!  And as the weeks keep flying by, that number's just going to keep going up and up - some weeks faster than others - but always in the right direction!  I reported in my challenge stats at the end of June, and that puts me at 36.3% of my goal mileage reached.  Halfway through the year and just over 1/3 of the way there.  I feel pretty good about it.

Since it's a holiday weekend, my running group didn't meet yesterday.  I had initially signed up for a race - the Independence Day 10K - but I decided against running it because even though race registration was free, the gas to get down there and back wasn't.  Cementing the decision were the facts that the race didn't start until 8am (just too hot), and that I'd still need to get in some additional miles afterward.  So I bailed on the race and hit the nearby trails bright and early - just me and my ipod.  I found myself missing the camaraderie of the group as well as that extra bit of motivation they provide, but I realized that a long run by myself was a good thing at this point.  After all, the group won't be there in San Francisco, will they?  About halfway through the run, I found myself tiring and recognized that I'd probably started out too fast.  So I ended up walking more of the last 2-3 miles than I'd like, but I'm still happy with the average pace.  Now I just need to keep it up for another 3.5 miles!

Yesterday's Run:

• 10 minute warm-up walk
• 9.56 mi run; 2:06:52; 13:16 min/mi avg. pace

Belting It Out

I always said that my handheld water bottle was enough for me and I didn't want to run in a hydration belt, but I recently realized that as much as I love my handheld, it just wasn't going to cut it for the long runs involved in marathon training.  So I asked for suggestions from my group members as well as friends who are runners.

After an exhaustive search, I finally found a hydration belt that feels good, carries the right amount of water and gels, and, that very importantly...holds my phone!!!  Yay!  Actually, I found two!  After several strike-outs, I found the Nathan Speed 2 and the Nathan Trail Mix.  I was initially going to choose between the two, but decided to keep both.  Why?  I like the option of having a "sleeker" belt - the Speed 2 - for shorter "long runs" (HM distance or less) because this will hold my phone as well as up to 3 gels.  But for any longer "long runs" I'm going to need a little more room for a little more stuff - so I'll break out the Trail Mix.

I ran in the Speed 2 this Saturday with the group - and liked it!  It will still take a little getting used to, but I can see myself quickly getting to the point of not noticing it.  There was very little bouncing, I had no problem retrieving my gel, the flasks were easy to remove and replace, and refilling them at the water stop wasn't a issue.

Just goes to show that getting out of your comfort zone can be a good thing!

Saturday's Group Run:

• 8.23 mi; 1:54:28; 13:55 min/mi avg pace

Tuesday's Treadmill Run:

• 10 min warm-up walk
• 3.0 mi; 0:40:00; 13:20 min/mi avg pace

Houston, We Have A Problem!

You know what they say about the best laid plans...  So, um, yeah.  It was a no-go for running this morning.  I made it as far as putting on running clothes, getting on the treadmill, and doing my warm-up walk.  30 seconds into the first run interval, I realized: 5am on a Monday?!?  It just wasn't happening. So I switched off the treadmill, and turned instead to my upper body/core strength training plan and did a circuit of weight training.

So, the plan to switch to Monday/Wednesday running is probably going to get scrapped.  I'm going to use the rest of the week to try to figure out a new approach, but for now, I'm back to Tuesday/Thursday runs.

However, I got in some strength training today, so it's hard to complain about that!  And I liked doing a little bit of cardio beforehand - I think I'll definitely incorporate 10-15 minutes of walking prior to pulling out the weights from now on!

Today's stats:

• 10 min. warm-up walk
• 35 min. upper body/core strength training