A while back I set what seemed like a lofty goal. Scratch that — while I was running the Akron Marathon Relay last year I made a promise to myself that I would run the Akron Half Marathon this year. That’s right. I decided in the middle of my first major race that I would run the same race the following year — but in doing so I would complete my first ever half marathon.
I knew then and there that the energy and excitement I felt during the relay race would be enough to push me through a half marathon. Plus, seeing the hundreds of other men and women pumped up for 13.1 miles was inspiring. If ALL of these people could commit to finishing 13.1 miles, what could possibly be holding me back from doing the same thing!?
Well now I’m on week SIX of my training plan — I’m halfway there!! And over halfway there in distance!
Here’s how I’ve been working in my training runs:
3 mornings a week I get up early and head to the towpath trail to fit in 3 or 4 miles (usually 4 miles, 3 miles and then 4 miles another day). The other days I do my best to fit in some sort of strength training (which for me has been HIIT workouts via Turbo Fire — they are quick and intense!). Additionally – LOTS of stretching; even on days that I’m not running. And on Sundays I gear up for my ‘long run,’ which I’ve been trying to do with a group or partner (it makes the time pass by much more quickly and the miles not seem as long).
This past weekend I planned on using my long run day (Sunday) to run 7-miles. I started with a group of women from Cleveland MRTT. They were planning on running 9 miles at a 10-minute mile pace. But instead of turning around at 3.5 miles, I kept on.
… but I ended up running 8-miles instead. I just felt so awesome that I didn’t even need to stop!
The best part? I finished with a 9 minute, 13 second per mile pace!! It was incredibly consistent for my longest run to date! And I set a couple of PR’s! Woo hoo!
And yes, I’ve been taking post-run selfies every time I run. No, not because I’m super vain, but because I want to document my progress and how I’m feeling via pictures while I go through this process.
Sidenote: I am growing my hair back out and I am HATING the length. So right now I do what I can with it. Which isn’t much. Ugh. Oh well.
Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be fitting in a couple more long training runs, including the Perfect 10 Miler! I hadn’t planned on running a 10-mile race before the half marathon; but after talking to some of the MRTT ladies, my plan is to run it as a training run versus a race. That way I get some race-day jitters out of the way, plus knock out 10 miles I’ll need to do anyways!
Hopefully over the course of the next couple of months, the half marathon race course will start to look a bit less intimidating…
And I’ve yet to set a timed goal for the race. Right now my only goal is to finish. Any suggestions for goal times??
