Friday afternoon my friend Hanna wrote on my facebook wall, saying that she was pretty sure I had said I was going to be out of town during the KC Marathon and Half, but would I be interested in being a part of a marathon relay team if I was around. I almost instantly replied nope, I would be out of town, and then I looked at the date again. I SWORE the KC Half was October 8th, but it is the 15th. I will be in town.
That totally threw me for a loop. Chris actually has that day off. I wouldn't have to travel to run a half. It would make so much more sense for me to run the one in KC. Only problem? That's four weeks away. Before today (more on that in a minute) my longest run was around 6.3 miles. Was it (is it?) at all feasible for me to run 13.1 in just four weeks? I have no idea. I'm still not signed up for either race and am at a bit of a loss on what to do. I know that it would logistically make so much more sense to run in KC, but I don't want to set myself up to fail (or get injured) by running something I'm not quite ready for. Right now I'm planning on running in KC, so I know I have to really buckle down and train hard these next four weeks.
Saturday morning I went to the gym for the 8:15 group fitness class. Previously it had been no limits circuit, or as I previously had described it, the 30 Day Shred on crack. I'm not 100% why, but they decided to change it to 50/50, half cardio half strength. Same idea, just not a circuit. Well Saturday we more or less did 80's style high impact aerobics for 35 minutes. I would equate it to jumping rope, while throwing in some high kicks, jumping jacks and other various ridiculous moves. My calves? They didn't appreciate it. I was a little disappointed because the strength portion of the class didn't really do a whole lot for me, and that is really what I'm looking for on Saturdays. I'll give it one more chance, and then I might just have to do my own strength workouts. The best part of the class though, was a small 65ish year old man with a big old mustache rockin' out in his socks at the front of the class. Seriously, his energy was crazy. He wasn't doing ANYTHING that the instructor was doing really, but he never stopped moving :). It definitely made me smile.
When I checked weather.com Saturday night, it wasn't looking good for a long morning run. There was a 70-90% chance of rain from 6am-3pm. With no more wiggle room left in my training schedule, I went to bed praying that the rain would give me a break so I could finish my run in the morning, instead of trying to fit it in later in the day.
Sunday morning I woke up to rain. Booooo. And then I cried. It was pathetic. I knew I couldn't skip my run altogether, and I didn't want to run in the rain, nor did I want to do 7+ miles on the treadmill, so I would just have to wait for it to clear. But the reason I was so upset? Because all I really wanted to do was to get my run over with, come home and take a shower, and BLOW DRY MY HAIR. I never have time to actually fix my hair, and it is starting to drive me crazy, so thanks to my irrational emotional state I was incredibly upset over the fact that yet again, I wouldn't really get the chance to shower and get ready for the day. Pathetic, I know.
Around 10:30 the radar looked clear for a bit so I decided to set out for my longest run to date. I was worried it wouldn't go well. The path was wet (for the record, the trail that I run on is paved, not a real 'trail', so thanks for the props last week Amy, but I didn't exactly earn them :o), my calves were so tight from Saturday's ridiculous aerobics, and I had eaten more than I usually do before a run (you never know how that will end...). Not to mention the GPS on my phone still wasn't working. I figured I'd do my best to use the trail markers to gauge 7 miles.
A couple minutes into my run I passed mile marker 6, so I figured I run a little ways past marker 9 and turn around. But wouldn't you know, probably just before I got to the 9th mile, the trail was closed due to construction and I had to turn around early. I ended up walking for a minute, probably somewhere around 5.5 miles in to the run, mentally I was telling myself I couldn't make it, even though I probably could have kept running. But that quick walk break really helped me, and I picked up pace to finish up. I decided I would run past my car (that was painful) until I hit mile marker 5 and then ran back to my car. So once again I'm not sure exactly how far I ran, but I'm guessing just over 7 miles in 1:10.
SEVEN MILES. AHHHHHH!!!! When I'm looking at that in comparison to what I know I have to run in the next few weeks, or what the girls are running on all the crazy healthy living blogs I've been reading, it doesn't seem like much. But that is a personal distance record for me. Seriously, six months ago I would have laughed in your face if you suggested I run seven miles. But yesterday I did it. It felt really good.
Now, now I just have to figure out for sure if I want to sign up for the KC Half Marathon. I know that if I allowed myself to use a run/walk combo, I could definitely complete the race. Well I'm 99% sure anyway. And there is nothing wrong with a run/walk method. But for me personally, I want to be able to pretty much run the entire 13.1, to say I've done it. So I'm not exactly sure what to do. I guess the best thing would probably be to figure out how to come to terms with accepting a few walk breaks here and there for now, and maybe plan on running another half in the spring sometime. Look at this first half as just another part of training...
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8 comments:
sounds like a great run! Good luck with your race decisions!
I think you can do it, I don't think EVERYONE would be able to train for a half in 4 weeks but I honestly think you have the determination to do it. Plus you have a pretty fast pace, so maybe if you slow your pace down a bit (during the first half) and then speed it up (the second half) you will be fine.
I totally understand how you felt after the 7 miles, doesn't it make you feel bad ass? Don't you want to just tell everyone you see "yeah I ran 7 miles today, what did you do?" Ha! It's a great feeling!!
If you don't feel comfortable signing up for the half, why don't you sign up for the relay? Normally they are around 5-7 miles per leg.. that seems like it would be perfect for you right now.
That is great time for 7 miles! And awesome to you that you ran some more!! You look awesome btw, I am 4.5 weeks pp and cant wait to have my pre pregnancy body back. You are helping me get motivated!
I think you can definitly do it!!! I have always followed Hal Higdon for training....and looking at his novice program, you are right on track, doing a long run at 7 miles 5 weeks in advance. Here is a link for you http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/novice.htm
I am doing a half on Oct. 23 and I have done 7 once and 8 once. My first half I only trained to 10 miles and did 13 fine on race day! Good luck....I know you have it in you!
Kathryn- I really want to get in half this fall, it is a goal I have. And it makes the most sense to do this one. I think I'm just going to have to go for it!
You can totally do it! Once you get in the race you will be full of adrenalin and seeing how you are a well trained runner at this point you should be fine. If you feel like you are "pushing" yourself on your training runs then don't, but it sounds like you are doing just fine if you are able to go a little further even when you could just stop at the car! PS- HS friend of Sarah L.'s
I pinned a picture of you a while ago and you commented on it saying that I could do it. I don't know what it was, but the fact that you personally motivated me really helped. I got a running buddy and we started couch to 5k and are running one the 15th of october. You were right, I can do it and I'm slowly by surely seeing the results. I still can't believe that I can run 10 min without keeling over dead, but I can. :)
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