Body After Baby: Half Marathon Training Week #7

Day 1: 6 miles

Done, with my usual treadmill, pushing buttons bc I get bored, changes to the incline and speed.

Day 2: 3 miles - Speed

It wasnt super speedy.... I have to be trying to compete against someone for me to ever get a speed of under 9:00 but I guess I was happy. I believe 100% in the saying "you play to the level of your opponents". When you play against a tough team you play tough... play against a crappy team, you play crappy.... run by yourself... you go slower.

Day 3: Off

And I did.
Day 4: 5 Miles

Oops. Skipped.
Day 5: 5 Miles

I had all intentions of heading to the office and running on the treadmill after my mini running break I took but as I wrote on my last post, the weather did not cooperate and I stayed home.
I thought about heading out to run... I do like running in the snow....
But then I decided to paint the bathroom...
We will call that cross training...
We all know how much of a work out painting can be!
Day 6: 4 miles

I thought about dropping the girls off at my parents while I ran...

But since they were already headed to grandparents for the evening I felt bad giving them up again so I could run.

Instead we spent the morning/afternoon together running errands and playing around the house.

Day 7: 12 miles

It was the BIG run that I knew was coming...

My 10 mile runs were all done with others...

I felt the need to do this one alone.

Even though Brian and I had a night to ourselves, I did not have a single drink...

I WAS going to run in the morning.

The plan was to park at my in-laws and run around their house before grabbing Leah to come home.

I got there a little before 8 and took off.

They live in a great area with a really nice path and connecting neighborhoods.

And it is HILLY!

It is all up a hill, down a hill, up a hill, down a hill.... nonstop.

And I did it!

And not a bad time either considering all the freaking hills!

Here's how it went down...

Mile 1 - 9:29
Mile 2 - 9:25
Mile 3 - 9:37
Mile 4 - 9:46 ... water & GU break.
Mile 5 - 9:32... I felt really good. At times I was at a 9:00 pace, but then some BIG hills happened.
Mile 6 - 9:40
Mile 7 - 9:49 ... more water
Mile 8 - 9:39... more water & GU.
Mile 9 - 9:37...This was the end of the trail pretty much and I knew the remaining miles were mostly going thru random subdivisions, keeping myself away from my in-laws house so that I was not tempted to end my run early.
Mile 10 - 9:54 ... this is when my legs felt SO HEAVY and things got hard.
Mile 11 - 9:46
Mile 12 - 10:04... from 11.2 - 12.0 it was ALL UP HILL and was MISERABLE!

So what I learned...

Even though my first reaction to GU was GROSS... I like it now. I can just swallow it quickly, and it works. I tried the chews and that is too much work and leaves too much of a taste in my mouth.

I am so glad I am doing these long 12 mile runs early on in my training... Those last 3 miles really were miserable alone. My legs barely wanted to move, my back and shoulders were killing me... I kept thinking "if I just collapse right now, can I call my in laws and will they be able to pick me up?" ... but of course I could not let myself give up... I knew I had to do it and could. Running is such a mental thing... your mind will continually tell you to stop but you just have to keep your body moving.

I am so glad that I will have the opprotunity to do these long 12 mile runs a few more times before the big half. I know I will get better at it. I know my body will not feel so miserable at the end. There is no way I want to feel that way on the day of the half. I want to be able to finish strong...

I want to feel good when I am done...

And not feel like I was just ran over by a truck.