Official countdown to half-marathon = 81 days. That's a little less than 3 months for me to get my act together and go try to rock the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in our nation's capital. Oh boy.
So how is the training coming along? Um...it's coming. That's about all I can say. I haven't been doing my very best quite yet, though I have had a successful last week, running a total of about 20 miles. (For all you long-distance runners, I know that doesn't sound that impressive, but please try to remember that I am a total amateur at this point) My longest run was 7 miles and I completed it in 1 hour 3 minutes. Not too bad of a time, right? Especially considering that it was right around freezing temperatures, and I was out in a gross mix of rain and sleet. My face probably never looked more disgusting than when I returned from that outing.
I'm even proud to say that I woke up nice and early today (the day after Christmas....when I should have been shopping!) to go run a cool 6 miles with my bestie, CB. She's borderline professional runner, so I'm pretty proud that I kept up with her today. Nevermind that it was her "slow, easy" run for the week. We did the 6 miles in 58 minutes 26 seconds. I'll take that.
CB is going to give me my official half-marathon training plan later this week. I can't wait to see what she has in store for me. And aside from that, here are the other things that are on my to-do list:
1. Going to get a gait analysis (I'm pretty sure I subconsciously favor the inside of my left foot when I run...probably rightfully so, since I've had surgery there twice in my life and it still houses 4 metal screws)
2. Getting new running shoes (based on results of gait analysis)
3. Continuing to build the perfect running playlist. I get closer everyday.
***Newest awesome addition? "F**k Me Pumps" by Amy Winehouse. This song would be perfection if it weren't for that one uncool line..."Don't be mad at me 'cuz you're pushin' thirty, and your old tricks no longer work"...R.I.P. Amy, but also bite me a little bit. I'm pushin' thirty and it just so happens that all of my old tricks still work. And I even have some new ones, thank you very much.
4. Looking at (and probably purchasing) GPS running watches. Let's be honest...I'll never be taken seriously as a runner without one.
5. Drinking more water (and less adult drinks) after long runs. Apparently if I don't drink enough water after a long run and then have 2 glasses of wine, I'm tanked. I'm just sorry JP had to be the first witness to this last Thursday evening. And the half-marathon is on St. Patty's Day. I plan to drink a LOT of green beer after the race. So I need to be more prepared for those after effects.
6. Figuring out what to do about a runny nose while running in the cold weather. Seriously, why does it just turn on like a faucet in the cold?! I'm open to ANY advice anyone has. And if there are no better fixes out there then I plan to shove cotton balls up my nostrils.
Stay tuned as the journey continues. It will hopefully be successful, but at the very least it will be entertaining.
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