Half Marathon!

Yesterday was the Charlotte Covered Bridge Half Marathon. It was really great! On Friday I ran a slow two miles in the morning. I didn't run on Wednesday or Thursday because I was too tired from work stuff. But I managed to get out Friday morning so that I had something in before the half.

The half marathon was an extremely hilly course. For the majority of it, you are either running up or down hills and it is mostly up. But I managed to be fine up the hills and ended up PRing! I finished in 2:09:17 - 1 minute faster than the last one! And this was the hardest race I'd ever done before. Plus, I felt fine afterward, which has never happened before. Overall, it was very successful.

Slacker

I didn't do anything athletic today or yesterday. I am too tired from the tour. I suck. :(

Run yesterday

I went for about a six mile run yesterday morning. It went pretty well and my achilles tendon didn't feel too bad. I was with a choir on tour in VT all day today, so I didn't have time for a run. I am planning on doing something tomorrow, but I'm not sure what. It will probably be in the afternoon since this group has free time then and I can fit it in before heading over to the office. I am too tired to think about running in the morning.

Bike and run

I went on a bike ride after work yesterday since my achilles tendon was still a little sore. I had skipped my run on Sunday, so I guess it was in place of that since Monday is usually a rest day. It is now about 6:30 AM and I am about to go out for a run. Training plan says it should be 9 miles, but I don't have time for that. I think it will be closer to 6. That's all I have for now.

I'm a bad poster...

Okay, I have not posted in a really long time. I have been running and keeping up with my training plan. I took a really easy week the week before last. Then on Tuesday I ran 8.5 miles pretty hard. It went well, aside from that fact that I sort of hurt my achilles tendon. It has been sort of sore on and off this week. I took a couple easy runs (Thursday and Friday) and then had my 20 miler on Saturday. While the tendon was okay on the easy runs, it started to ache a bit on the long one. And now it's still a little sore today... I'm a little worried as an achilles tendon injury this close to race day. But it should be okay, I hope.
Other than that, life has been pretty good. It's gorgeous out this weekend, which makes running really fun for a change. AND I have this cute pink running skirt now. I need to buy another one as they are sooo comfortable to run in!
Also, I lost four pounds and then gained two back. I'm trying to eat better now so I hope that will actually keep the weight off. I am going to eat salad every day for lunch. I have some tuna and we have TONS of lettuce, so I think it will actually happen.
I think that's enough for today...

Past two runs

Well, my run on Tuesday did not go quite as planned. I was supposed to run an 8.5 mile loop after work. I got out on time, but about 10 minutes into the run, I realized that I really had to go to the bathroom. And this wasn't the type that you could take care of in the bushes, so I really needed to find somewhere. Unfortunately I had chosen to run on the bikepath and none of the public restrooms were open yet. It got so bad that I couldn't run for too long because of all bouncing. So I needed to take walk breaks every couple minutes. Finally I got to the high school and used the bathroom there, but needed to just turn around and run home after because it had gotten so late. So I only ran about 66 minutes, but I guess it's better than nothing.

Then this morning I went for speed intervals with Art this morning. My muscles were a little tight since I ran the night before. But I sucked it up and ran the intervals. On the fourth interval, my knee sort of "popped" so I stop for a minute to check it out. It seemed okay, but some fluid rushed to the area. The rest of the run was fine, but I still iced it for a bit today just to be safe.

Tomorrow is spinning class! Yay!

About the plan

As I am still figuring out this blogging format, I could not write normal text before my training plan below.

Today, Monday, begins week 11 of my training plan. I chose to not post my plan for the previous weeks, since what is done is done. You'll just have to take my word that I have been training for 10 weeks so far.

Tomorrow I am planning to run a 8.5 mile run after work. Wish me luck!

Training Plan

11	Rest	8 miles	6x100 S	spinning	Rest	19 miles	5 miles
12	Rest	1-hour run	hill repeats	spinning	Rest	6 miles	5 miles
13	Rest	9 miles	6x100 S	spinning	Rest	20 miles	5 miles
14	Rest	9 miles	hill repeats	spinning	Rest	Half Marathon	5 miles
15	Rest	7 miles	6x100 S	spinning	Rest	20 miles	4 miles
16	Rest	6 miles	hill repeats	spinning	Rest	4 miles	10 miles
17	Rest	6 miles	3 miles	spinning	Rest	Rest	1-hour run
18	Rest	5 miles	Rest	spinning	Rest	2-mile jog	Marathon!

My marathon

I decided to start a blog to keep track of my training and make myself accountable. This will be my second marathon and I am already more than half-way finished with the training. The marathon, the same one I ran last year, is the Vermont City Marathon on May 27th. This takes places in my home city of Burlington, VT. It is a great marathon with a lot of crowd support and excitement, if anyone is interested.
But I have much bigger plans than just completing this marathon. Here is my list:
1. Lose about 10 pounds this month.
I am a little bit heavier than I think I should be (154 at 5'5) and think that losing the few extra pounds will greatly increase my performance. I want to lose the pounds this month, so they're off before I begin to taper. With any luck they will stay off during the taper.
2. Run this marathon 15-30 minutes faster than my previous one.
Last year I ran the marathon in 5 hours and 2 minutes. I think I should be able to complete this one between 4:30 and 4:45.
3. Run another marathon in the fall along with one or two half marathons.
Last year I ran the May marathon and then ran a half marathon in October and one in November. I think I can do better than that this year.

So those are my goals. Today is a rest day, so I don't need to report any miles. But those will come soon!