Half Marathon Recap: Weeks 6 & 7

So I forgot to post about last week's running.  I am still running so don't take my forgetfulness as not discontinuing :)  Although, I do have an update on that...but for now, here is the recap:

Week 6:
Day 1 (Sunday): 7 miles @ 11:30 min/mile pace (NO WALKING!!!)
Day 2 (Monday): OFF
Day 3 (Tuesday): 4 miles @ 11:27 min/mile pace
Day 4 (Wednesday): 3 miles @ 10:59 min/mile pace
Day 5 (Thursday): OFF
Day 6 (Friday): 4 miles @ 11:37 min/mile pace
Day 7 (Saturday): OFF   Week 7: Day 1 (Sunday): 8 miles 7 miles @ 11:51 min/mile pace - Couldn't do it and got really, really sick
Day 2 (Monday): OFF
Day 3 (Tuesday): 4 miles @ 11:22 min/mile pace
Day 4 (Wednesday): 3 miles @ 11:18 min/mile pace
Day 5 (Thursday): OFF
Day 6 (Friday): 4 miles 3 miles @ 10:29 min/mile pace - Ran out of time!
Day 7 (Saturday): OFF

So you can see I'm keep on running but I got super sick last Sunday with my run.  My body just gave out and up things it shouldn't have.  Part of this is because most of my runs are in the evenings now and I am working a million hrs.  I am having struggling fitting time in for my family and it is stressing me out.  Plus, I am not sleeping.  So it is no wonder my body is rebeling!! 

So now onto my update...I am not going to be able to make the April run.  It is my own fault due to being an idiot.  Soo...I am out of the running (ha! get it?) for the April race unfortunately.  I am not stopping the running though.  I just won't do such long runs going forward.  I'll be ready by the October one though!! So This will be my last post for now about the half marathon training...until July when I start up again :)

Half Marathon Recap: Week 5

I cannot believe it's only been 5 weeks.  The progress is just amazing!  I just feel so good running and don't think I look like as much of a dork anymore.  I do need to start going outside to get the feel of that very, very soon.  Here is my progress this week!  I cannot imagine going under 3 miles.  My attitude has just adjusted so quickly to this training schedule!

Day 1 (Sunday): 6 miles  OFF; I did my long run on Saturday
Day 2 (Monday): OFF; 2 miles @ 11:04 min/mile pace
Day 3 (Tuesday): 3 miles @ 11:41 min/mile pace (stomach bug! ugh)
Day 4 (Wednesday): 3 miles OFF
Day 5 (Thursday): OFF; 2 miles @ 11:18 min/mile pace (ran out of time for 3 miles)
Day 6 (Friday): 3 miles @ 11:25 min/mile pace
Day 7 (Saturday): OFF

Half Marathon Recap: Week 4

So this week was incredibly difficult due to health issues.  I will post more about that later but I am incredibly proud of how far I have come!!  I wasn't able to do one of my normal days on Friday so I will have to make up that time and I switched Sunday's long run (for today) with yesterday because I was nervous after taking 2 days off how that might effect me.  It definitely slowed me down on my pace but I still did 6 miles!  Bring on the running this week!

Day 1 (Sunday): 5 miles @ 11:30 min/mile pace
Day 2 (Monday): OFF
Day 3 (Tuesday): 3 miles @ 11:14 min/mile pace
Day 4 (Wednesday): 2 miles @ 10:53 min/mile pace

Day 5 (Thursday): OFF

Day 6 (Friday): 3 miles  OFF - Will make up the time on Monday
Day 7 (Saturday): OFF 6 miles @ 12:05 min/mile pace

Half Marathon Recap: Week 3

This week I suffered MAJOR burn out.  I hit a freaking wall.  I realized on Wed night something was really wrong cause I just could barely even make a half mile without wanting to die.  What happened to me?!  Then I realized I had worked out 7 days in a row without a break.  So I took Thursday off and went back to it on Friday and did an easy 2 miles at a decent pace (for me) and could have done more if I had more time.  So I think that was my problem.  We'll see this week!!  Here is what happened last week.

Day 1 (Sunday):  4 miles @ 12:02 pace
Day 2 (Monday):  OFF  2 miles @ 10:33 pace
Day 3 (Tuesday):  2 miles @ 11:30 pace
Day 4 (Wednesday): 2 miles @ 11:06 pace ; 1 mile @ 12:05 pace (a woman was showing me up, and I couldn't have that ;))
Day 5 (Thursday):  OFF
Day 6 (Friday): 3 miles @ 11:09 pace
Day 7 (Saturday):  OFF

And since I started this, I have dropped 17 lbs and 2 pant sizes.  Very, very happy with my progress so far :)

This week will be harder because I am going to have to start working out more at night cause I cannot squeeze the workout in my time before work.  This is when it gets hard on ME because I don't want to leave my kiddos.  Must. remain. focused.

Half Marathon Training: Week 2 Recap

This week has been rough.  I started out great on Sunday with doing 5 miles but unfortunately I got 2 massive blisters - 1 on each foot.  They were so painful that I could barely walk until Tuesday.  I risks running on Tuesday with some new shoes - thinking I just needed to get a size bigger.  WRONG!  I ended up pulling a muscle trying them out and then finally went to Fleet Feet on Wed.  That made all of the difference so I finally got back into the swing of things...but unfortunately by not sticking to the plan this week, it impacted my pace and strength.  I will come back stronger in week 3!!

Day 1 (Sunday): 5 miles @ 12:00 min/mile pace
Day 2 (Monday): OFF
Day 3(Tuesday): 1 mile @ 10:02 min/mile pace in the AM; 1 mile @ 10:30 min/mile pace in the PM
Day 4 (Wednesday): OFF - got new shoes!!
Day 5 (Thursday): 2 miles @ 11:11 min/mile pace - breaking in the new shoes
Day 6 (Friday): 2 miles @ 10:52 min/mile pace

Holy Blisters Batman!!

I've learned my lesson the hard way...if your feet start majorly hurting during your long run and you know there are blisters forming and you do not have any protection from them on your feet STOP RUNNING!!!  I have such a massive blister on my left foot that I can barely walk.  With help from some friends that are avid runners I have discovered I need special running socks for my long runs (which is when this happened) and shoes at least a half size bigger than my normal size.  So I bought special socks and bandaids (who knew!) and will be going to buy bigger shoes today.  Until then, I just want to have it heal by tomorrow so I can do my short run!!!

Half Marathon Training: Week 1 Recap

When I started this week I was excited but really nervous.  I knew it was crunch time and I needed to do this but I wasn't sure 1) what I was doing still and 2) if I was going to be able to really "run" most of the time.  I am not technically done with my week 1 yet but I did want to provide an update and how proud I am of myself and my husband for supporting me.  Without him I honestly wouldn't be able to sneak away to the gym to train so I really appreciate his support!

So here is my recap!

Day 1 (Sunday):  Took the day off because I did 4 miles on Saturday (13:05 pace).
Day 2 (Monday):  2 miles @ 12:53 pace
Day 3 (Tuesday): 1 mile @ 10:23 pace
Day 4 (Wed):  Rest
Day 5 (Thursday): 1 mile @ 9:29 pace
Day 6 (Friday) - Day 7 (Saturday):  TBD - I wasn't able to workout this AM due to stomach issues but hope to go tonight to get my 2 miles in

So when I started this journey on 1/2 I was doing 12 min miles and was making myself complete sick so I scaled it back and started doing 13 min miles.  I also could BARELY do 2 miles.  Now I can comfortably do 4 miles with a 13 mile pace (and that was last week, TOTALLY going to beat that this weekend!!!) and on my shorter runs to increase speed I am down to 9:29 min/miles?!  Holy cow!!  My goal is to get down to 8:30 min/miles running outside.  That's my bigger kicker right now - I am a chicken and won't run outside yet (mainly because I am too cheap to buy appropriate gear :)).  So we'll see how this changes come spring when I go outside for my runs when I can.  All in all I am starting to think I can actually do this and reach ALL of my goals!