Disney Princess Half-Marathon Training Week 5 and 6

Week 5, Run 1

There wasn't anything really special about my Tuesday morning run. I manged to get up early, even though I stayed up fairly late on Monday night (and by late, I'm mean 10:30, I try to get in bed by 9 on the nights before my runs). I ran around my neighborhood and the nearby school, blasting the new Taylor Swift CD just because I COULD. My splits were 12:47 and 13:30.

Week 5, Run 2

I had no excuse to not get up early on Thursday morning. I slept well, and when my alarm went off I felt rested. But my bed was just soo gosh darn warm.  So I slept in that extra hour, and I really have no regrets. I decided to run on my lunch break.

The minute I got to the park where I run, 3-4 school buses dropped off children to have lunch outside. I was like really?!? I did not want to run in front of a whole bunch of teenagers, but I didn't have any other options, so I did.

When I started running it felt really hard, I don't know why, just an off day. But I knew I just had to keep going. I felt a little better after a mile, but not by much. I felt slow and clumsy, I was sure my times would be awful. But they were decent, just not my best (13:05 and 14:10). But any run where I don't give up is a great run!

Week 5, Run 3

Saturday was the day of my big 5 miler.I have never ran further than 4 miles. I had been nervous about it all week, and I was really nervous when I woke up on Saturday morning. So I put it off. I spent the day in town with Adam, and then came home and took a nap, promising myself I would run after my nap. Which is what I did. Since it was late, and it was dark, I decided just to run around my block. I knew it would be a little bit boring with no changes in scenery (I would just be rounding my block 10 times). But it seemed like the best option. 

I loaded up some podcasts, did a short warm-up walk, took a deep breath, said a prayer, and then I took off. I figured I would not have the best times, since I tend to slow down a bit with each mile. But I had a secret goal to finish under 1:20, and I ended up finishing in 1:06! It was a hard work-out, but not unmanageable so, and I could have ran further if I had to. I managed not to lose more than a minute from my first mile time to my last mile time. My splits were 12:53, 13:02, 13:17, 13:36, and 13:47.

I was so proud of myself, the only other time I have ever felt that kind of pride was when I completed my first 5k running.

Week 6, Run 1

Tuesday just was not my day. I couldn't get myself out of bed that morning, and I decided I would just run on my lunch break. And then when I went to change into my workout gear, I realized I had left my running shoes at home. And then when I got home and went to run, I realized I left my work out clothes at work. Like what the heck? I had no choice but to put my run off till Wednesday. I ended up having to do a treadmill run Wednesday night due to the rain. I set it on 4.5, and I ended up doing 2 miles at a 13:03 pace. It felt really hard, but I was able to finish it!

Week 6, Run 2

The challenge of running on Wednesday as opposed to Tuesday was I would have to run on Thursday as well.  I was concerned I would be too sore. But I got up Thursday morning, and I knocked it out. I did feel somewhat sore, but it didn't seem to bother me much. My 2 splits were 12:59 and 13:28. But I was most proud to be able to say I did my two weekday runs in the span of 12 hours!

Week 6, Run 3

I had 3 miles on the schedule for Saturday. It's funny, I don't worry over 3 miles now at all, it feels short and doable. I enjoyed running at night last week, so I went out for my run around the neighborhood about 9 p.m. I was so proud of my times for this run. My splits were 12:39 (a P.R), 12:43, and 13:04. That makes my average pace 12:56.

I am running a 10k next weekend for my 6 mile day. I'm so nervous/excited. I want to be able to run it all and get a good time!  My goal is to just finish it all running. My secret goal is to finish it in an hour and a half. It would be such a big accomplishment for me.

Brittany

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Watch me Go...



For those of you who don't know, I've been battling severe allergies since the beginning of October. Between sneezing, coughing, and feeling bad I have been struggling to get my runs in. That on top of a full plate at work and you get why I've been terrible at posting. I'm still a little under the weather, but I'm done letting that stop me from reaching my goal of completing my first half marathon. I've been getting in about a run or two a week, but they are pretty slow and I've only run about 30 minutes at a time.

Today was the first day I've felt really good in a while, and minus some coughing, I had no other issues. I warmed up around 3:45pm and took off on my first distance run in a while. 5 miles is a lot of mileage as the most I've ever run at one time was my 10K almost a year and a half ago. I expected a really bad time, but I was surprised to see that I'm not as far behind as I thought.

I finished my run and was flagged down by one of the guys who does training for a local gym. He often brings his classes to the track to run and use the equipment. (I am always cheering encouragement at them as I see them go through circuits and they are always cheering on the runners out at the track.) I waved at him and stopped by to see what he wanted. He told me that he had noticed my running form was MUCH better and he wanted to let me know that he could really tell a difference. I smiled and told him I was concerned because my time had slowed down as my form began to change. Apparently that is normal and as long as I keep running, I should be fine. The fact that he stopped me to tell me I was improving really  made me happy. It made me realize that you never know who is watching you. It makes me want to push myself even harder to ensure that I reach my goals in time for my big race. (And I told him about getting ready for the half and he gave me some really good advice on nutrition goals and pacing. :) For free...which is the best thing.)

It's hard to believe that we are only 111 days away from race day! It seems to be passing so quickly! I can remember when we were at 250 days...now we are almost down to double digit days! It will REALLY hit me when we get to single digit days! B and I are so ready and pretty much text non-stop these days about what all we are going to do! I can't wait to get there!

 

Enjoy your evening,

Jana

 

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