It's been a while since I have done a "series" type post(s). When I first started running, I documented my progress via this blog using the C25K method. Well, after running for four or so years, I have finally worked up the courage to give a half marathon a go. A freaking half marathon. That's 13.1 miles. Steven and I officially registered for the OUC Orlando Half Marathon about a month ago after talking about how this was a goal both of us had. At this point, my main goal? Finish. Finish and be able to say I completed a half marathon. Bonus if I finish in under 3 hours. That seems like a ridiculous amount of time to run... and it probably is. I'm going into this though with minimal time consideration other than less than 15 minutes per mile (which is the recommended slowest pace on the half course so they can reopen roads). A 15 minute mile would let me finish a half in 3 hours, 16 minutes. And hey... if it takes me that long? So be it. But I plan to be done. I wanted to document my progress again (like I did when I started running) so I have something to look back at for if we decide to do this again for any given reason... and I have a sneaking suspicion we probably will. I plan to publish these posts and may link back to them when I write up an actual blog about the half itself in December, but I'm not going to purposely share them because this is more about documenting for me. So, if you have come across these posts during training and happen to be interested at all, stay tuned. My hope is to update weekly on either Saturday or Sunday with the week's progress. The biggest obstacle before we even started was planning. With Steven and me both doing this, we had to finagle some things around to make training work. There are days when the mileage increases substantially that we will determine how to handle as we get closer. Those days will be harder for us to run on the same day because of the kiddos. If the weather would cool down, one of us could run later than the other... but it seems like summer has decided to never end. We have some time before that happens though, so we will cross that bridge when we get there. For now, the plan is for me to stick with the planned days during the week (Tuesday/Thursday) for the weekday runs and him to take (Monday/Wednesday). Then Saturdays we will take as we get to them. For now, we can both run Saturday. Eventually one of us (probably me) will have to take Sundays. That's going to be interesting... getting up at 4am to run so Steven and/or I can get to church on time. I should have never accidentally turned Steven into a morning runner. He used to say he hated it and preferred to run at night but he has changed his tune now and prefers mornings (like me).
All that said... let's get started. Week 1 is done!
Monday
Plan: Off, Actual: Off
Alright, alright, alright. The plan doesn't actually start until Tuesday... but this day is listed on the plan when you read it so I threw it in here. Also, because I'm an enneagram 1, it is going to drive me crazy when I re-read these one day and every week other than this one includes Monday. Also, this lets me get it in there that I was almost derailed before I even started. I woke up Saturday with some minor back pain in the middle of my back (vertically) on the right side. Weird but not too bad. I figured I slept wrong or something. Then Sunday came and I have NO idea what I did unless I overcompensated for the back pain and pulled something else, but I woke up that day and was in such pain that I had difficulty walking, sitting, laying down, and even breathing deeply. I was convinced it was some sort of sign that all this was a terrible idea. Monday was almost as bad. I woke up feeling a bit better, but it didn't take long before I was convinced I was going to be out of this before I even started.
Tuesday
Plan: 3 Miles, Actual: Rest
My back was still hurting some on Tuesday. It was definitely night and day from the prior couple of days though so while I was supposed to run, I decided to wait it out at least one more day and then see how I was feeling. I was just thankful this all occurred in week 1 when the mileage was not bad at all.
Wednesday
Plan: Rest, Actual: 3 Miles
Wednesday was Steven's day to run but because he also has to go to work at a certain time, I knew I could get up a few minutes after he left for his run, get dressed, and then leave about 5 minutes before he returned. He got back just a couple minutes after me so that worked out well and I was able to get 3 miles in before he had to leave for work and the kids woke up. I decided to start out training with 1:1 intervals. I plan to keep intervals throughout training; however, my hope is to increase running intervals as time goes on. For now, 1:1 was a good plan because it gives me a base and was purposeful in light of my recent back issues. It worked out so well, too! So very well. I was a bit slow (for me... because my "slow" is a lot of people's turtle pace, including my husband) at 13:30 min/mile. I was feeling strong though and enjoying the fact that my new shoes were seriously helping the fact that I overpronate usually (seriously, I was excited and could feel the difference) so I was able to keep up the intervals and even managed negative splits for the next two miles. Mile 2 came in at 13:00 and Mile 3 was finished in 12:34! What?!?! Look, if I can figure out how to maintain a 12:34 or so pace for 13 miles, I would even keep the 1:1 interval. At least I would finish and not be so exhausted that I collapse. I am a strong proponent of intervals when running. Steven HATES them. I LOVE them. Tomato, tomahto. Either way, I felt great when I finished today's run. I also taped my achilles for the second time and wore the tape through the remainder of the day. I think I finally got the tape in the exact right place, too. Usually I can run and don't feel the achilles pain, but when I finish and for days afterwards I have tightness and pain when I walk. The tape definitely seemed to help post run and kept me from having as much pain as I usually do. Whether it truly helps, or is a placebo effect, I don't know. Nor do I care. It made me feel better. You better believe I will be ordering more tape this week as backup when my current roll runs out. I also have a hope that more training will help condition me more (and I think it will because I saw this happen during our run streak when I was just doing a mile a day) and help lower my average heart rate when I run. I have always had a high heart rate when I work out. My resting heart rate is in the average range and even tends to be towards the lower part of that, but when I work out... it shoots up. So, my hope is to significantly lower that.
Thursday
Plan: 3 Miles, Actual: Rest
Since my training schedule was derailed from the start, I had to move this day. I ran Wednesday and while I could have handled another 3 miles in a row should I needed to, I didn't want to and it wasn't necessary. I didn't even have all that many steps at the end of the day. My hope is to work on that, as well. I would like to try to hit my 10,000 step goal as often as possible during training even on days I don't run. Honestly, most of the time I either hit it or end up really close so it should be too difficult. This day I only had around 6,000 steps by the end of the day. I also took my watch off around 7pm and still ended up taking a very short walk with Steven when he got home from worship rehearsal. It wouldn't have put me at 10,000, but I would have been a lot closer had I left my watch on.
Friday
Plan: Rest, Actual: 3 Miles
Still being off by a day, I did the scheduled run from Thursday on Friday. I decided to keep my 1:1 intervals for this run. I maintained them again through the entire run. Granted, 1:1 is definitely not difficult to maintain... at least at these short runs. I was a bit slower overall than my last run at 13:25 minutes per mile. My first mile was my slowest. Again. Not sure what is up with that lately. It used to always be my fastest. I have heard the saying though, "Never trust the first mile." Maybe this is more of what that means. I'm getting warmed up... and still waking up. I left the house a few minutes later for this run. I was out the door just before 6am. I was still tired at the beginning though. I find that on days I know I'm running the next morning, I don't seem to sleep as well. Anticipation maybe? I deal with anxiety related to things that I know I have to get done. I've been known to randomly get up at 2am to do actual work before because I was so anxious about having enough time to finish something on time the following day. Even if it is something I have a couple of days to do. So this may just be an extension of that. All I know is that if I can't get a hold on it, I may have some issues as these runs get longer and I need to get up even earlier. The plus to this plan is that there is never a weekday run longer than 5 miles. I felt pretty good during the run. Had some achilles pain immediately after I finished when I first sat down... and then tried to stand up and walk. It wasn't terrible though and as the day wore on, it mostly subsided. I left the tape on again all day like the last time and I think that helps.
Saturday:
Plan: 3 Miles, Actual: Battle of the Bands 5k (completed walking/running with K)
Saturday we already had a race planned. One thing I also like about this plan is that because it is put out by Track Shack, it corresponds to races they already have scheduled. We run all of their Fanatic Series races since we are Fanatics and so mileage is built in. The only downfall to this one (though I love having the kids to a point) is that Kenzie had to do the miles with me. We didn't have childcare available for this race so we registered her and I pushed Will in the single jogger. Kenzie runs some but is unable to run as much as I typically would; however, she also runs faster than I would like. So I spend a lot of the time catching her. She randomly takes off but then slows to a walk. I run at my normal pace and just have to run longer to catch her eventually. Also, pushing 41 pounds in a stroller that has a weird wheel and basically needs an alignment check on a race course is less than ideal for me. I'm not a fan. Kenzie weaves in and out of people on the course. I can't do that quite as easily so I end up behind and struggling to get around. We made a plan for where she would stop to meet me if she was at certain points of the course and I got too far behind. She also knew she could run through to the finish if she needed to because Steven would be there. Will is still too young to do a full 5k (without complaining... the kid can walk/run forever and a day as long as we don't tell him he has to) so he gets the joy of riding along and still driving us crazy. He did get out and run for about .25 miles (straight without stopping), but his running is a very fast walk for me as he doesn't run too fast and has shorter legs so he is easier to keep up with. All in all, we did pretty well. Our pace was 15:27 minutes per mile. WAY better than we did together at the Watermelon 5k in July. Granted, the conditions were less than ideal for that race and Kenzie was just feeling off that day. It was a pretty good run though. I'm proud of Kenzie. She actually left me behind at the finish line and got a major shout out from the MC. Because the race is chip timed, they knew her name and age so everyone heard her name and that she is only 7-years-old. She got a ton of congratulations from people around the finish line. It was actually a bit much for her. She likes being the center of attention as long as she is aware it is coming. Being called out without any prior notice made her a bit teary but we explained that it was just because so few young children run these 5ks. She actually finished 2nd of 3 in the seven-year-old division. Okay, that isn't a division necessarily... but she was the middle of the pack of kids her age. Even though I walked more than I ran for this race, I decided to count it as my training run since it was the full distance and there is a good chance I will walk a lot of the half anyway.
Sunday
Plan: Rest, Actual: Rest
Rest day! Nothing much to report here. Called for rest. I rested. Haha. My back was actually hurting some when I woke up but was better by mid-day so I'm just hoping that isn't going to become a regular thing at this point.
With that... week 1 is in the books!! 1 down, 12 to go.
Total Weekly Mileage: 9.1 Miles
Total Training Miles: 9.1 Miles
All that said... let's get started. Week 1 is done!
Monday
Plan: Off, Actual: Off
Alright, alright, alright. The plan doesn't actually start until Tuesday... but this day is listed on the plan when you read it so I threw it in here. Also, because I'm an enneagram 1, it is going to drive me crazy when I re-read these one day and every week other than this one includes Monday. Also, this lets me get it in there that I was almost derailed before I even started. I woke up Saturday with some minor back pain in the middle of my back (vertically) on the right side. Weird but not too bad. I figured I slept wrong or something. Then Sunday came and I have NO idea what I did unless I overcompensated for the back pain and pulled something else, but I woke up that day and was in such pain that I had difficulty walking, sitting, laying down, and even breathing deeply. I was convinced it was some sort of sign that all this was a terrible idea. Monday was almost as bad. I woke up feeling a bit better, but it didn't take long before I was convinced I was going to be out of this before I even started.
Tuesday
Plan: 3 Miles, Actual: Rest
My back was still hurting some on Tuesday. It was definitely night and day from the prior couple of days though so while I was supposed to run, I decided to wait it out at least one more day and then see how I was feeling. I was just thankful this all occurred in week 1 when the mileage was not bad at all.
Wednesday
Plan: Rest, Actual: 3 Miles
Wednesday was Steven's day to run but because he also has to go to work at a certain time, I knew I could get up a few minutes after he left for his run, get dressed, and then leave about 5 minutes before he returned. He got back just a couple minutes after me so that worked out well and I was able to get 3 miles in before he had to leave for work and the kids woke up. I decided to start out training with 1:1 intervals. I plan to keep intervals throughout training; however, my hope is to increase running intervals as time goes on. For now, 1:1 was a good plan because it gives me a base and was purposeful in light of my recent back issues. It worked out so well, too! So very well. I was a bit slow (for me... because my "slow" is a lot of people's turtle pace, including my husband) at 13:30 min/mile. I was feeling strong though and enjoying the fact that my new shoes were seriously helping the fact that I overpronate usually (seriously, I was excited and could feel the difference) so I was able to keep up the intervals and even managed negative splits for the next two miles. Mile 2 came in at 13:00 and Mile 3 was finished in 12:34! What?!?! Look, if I can figure out how to maintain a 12:34 or so pace for 13 miles, I would even keep the 1:1 interval. At least I would finish and not be so exhausted that I collapse. I am a strong proponent of intervals when running. Steven HATES them. I LOVE them. Tomato, tomahto. Either way, I felt great when I finished today's run. I also taped my achilles for the second time and wore the tape through the remainder of the day. I think I finally got the tape in the exact right place, too. Usually I can run and don't feel the achilles pain, but when I finish and for days afterwards I have tightness and pain when I walk. The tape definitely seemed to help post run and kept me from having as much pain as I usually do. Whether it truly helps, or is a placebo effect, I don't know. Nor do I care. It made me feel better. You better believe I will be ordering more tape this week as backup when my current roll runs out. I also have a hope that more training will help condition me more (and I think it will because I saw this happen during our run streak when I was just doing a mile a day) and help lower my average heart rate when I run. I have always had a high heart rate when I work out. My resting heart rate is in the average range and even tends to be towards the lower part of that, but when I work out... it shoots up. So, my hope is to significantly lower that.
Plan: 3 Miles, Actual: Rest
Since my training schedule was derailed from the start, I had to move this day. I ran Wednesday and while I could have handled another 3 miles in a row should I needed to, I didn't want to and it wasn't necessary. I didn't even have all that many steps at the end of the day. My hope is to work on that, as well. I would like to try to hit my 10,000 step goal as often as possible during training even on days I don't run. Honestly, most of the time I either hit it or end up really close so it should be too difficult. This day I only had around 6,000 steps by the end of the day. I also took my watch off around 7pm and still ended up taking a very short walk with Steven when he got home from worship rehearsal. It wouldn't have put me at 10,000, but I would have been a lot closer had I left my watch on.
Friday
Plan: Rest, Actual: 3 Miles
Still being off by a day, I did the scheduled run from Thursday on Friday. I decided to keep my 1:1 intervals for this run. I maintained them again through the entire run. Granted, 1:1 is definitely not difficult to maintain... at least at these short runs. I was a bit slower overall than my last run at 13:25 minutes per mile. My first mile was my slowest. Again. Not sure what is up with that lately. It used to always be my fastest. I have heard the saying though, "Never trust the first mile." Maybe this is more of what that means. I'm getting warmed up... and still waking up. I left the house a few minutes later for this run. I was out the door just before 6am. I was still tired at the beginning though. I find that on days I know I'm running the next morning, I don't seem to sleep as well. Anticipation maybe? I deal with anxiety related to things that I know I have to get done. I've been known to randomly get up at 2am to do actual work before because I was so anxious about having enough time to finish something on time the following day. Even if it is something I have a couple of days to do. So this may just be an extension of that. All I know is that if I can't get a hold on it, I may have some issues as these runs get longer and I need to get up even earlier. The plus to this plan is that there is never a weekday run longer than 5 miles. I felt pretty good during the run. Had some achilles pain immediately after I finished when I first sat down... and then tried to stand up and walk. It wasn't terrible though and as the day wore on, it mostly subsided. I left the tape on again all day like the last time and I think that helps.
Saturday:
Plan: 3 Miles, Actual: Battle of the Bands 5k (completed walking/running with K)
Saturday we already had a race planned. One thing I also like about this plan is that because it is put out by Track Shack, it corresponds to races they already have scheduled. We run all of their Fanatic Series races since we are Fanatics and so mileage is built in. The only downfall to this one (though I love having the kids to a point) is that Kenzie had to do the miles with me. We didn't have childcare available for this race so we registered her and I pushed Will in the single jogger. Kenzie runs some but is unable to run as much as I typically would; however, she also runs faster than I would like. So I spend a lot of the time catching her. She randomly takes off but then slows to a walk. I run at my normal pace and just have to run longer to catch her eventually. Also, pushing 41 pounds in a stroller that has a weird wheel and basically needs an alignment check on a race course is less than ideal for me. I'm not a fan. Kenzie weaves in and out of people on the course. I can't do that quite as easily so I end up behind and struggling to get around. We made a plan for where she would stop to meet me if she was at certain points of the course and I got too far behind. She also knew she could run through to the finish if she needed to because Steven would be there. Will is still too young to do a full 5k (without complaining... the kid can walk/run forever and a day as long as we don't tell him he has to) so he gets the joy of riding along and still driving us crazy. He did get out and run for about .25 miles (straight without stopping), but his running is a very fast walk for me as he doesn't run too fast and has shorter legs so he is easier to keep up with. All in all, we did pretty well. Our pace was 15:27 minutes per mile. WAY better than we did together at the Watermelon 5k in July. Granted, the conditions were less than ideal for that race and Kenzie was just feeling off that day. It was a pretty good run though. I'm proud of Kenzie. She actually left me behind at the finish line and got a major shout out from the MC. Because the race is chip timed, they knew her name and age so everyone heard her name and that she is only 7-years-old. She got a ton of congratulations from people around the finish line. It was actually a bit much for her. She likes being the center of attention as long as she is aware it is coming. Being called out without any prior notice made her a bit teary but we explained that it was just because so few young children run these 5ks. She actually finished 2nd of 3 in the seven-year-old division. Okay, that isn't a division necessarily... but she was the middle of the pack of kids her age. Even though I walked more than I ran for this race, I decided to count it as my training run since it was the full distance and there is a good chance I will walk a lot of the half anyway.
Sunday
Plan: Rest, Actual: Rest
Rest day! Nothing much to report here. Called for rest. I rested. Haha. My back was actually hurting some when I woke up but was better by mid-day so I'm just hoping that isn't going to become a regular thing at this point.
With that... week 1 is in the books!! 1 down, 12 to go.
Total Weekly Mileage: 9.1 Miles
Total Training Miles: 9.1 Miles
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