1/2 Marathon Training - Day 43

It only took about 1.25mi into my 3.0mi run this morning for me to make the decision that I was only going half way. Just not a good morning. I did manage to sprint the last quarter mile to feel like there was some accomplishment. Of course, some perspective may be in order... just 5 weeks ago I was doing good to simply make 1.5mi. Total time - 14:36 (9:44mi)

Car Stuff & 1/2 Marathon Training - Day 41

For my birthday a while back my WAY-Cool wife got me a weekend at The Drivers Edge High Performance Driving Event down at the local road course race track, MotorSport Ranch. The really cool thing about this is you use your own car. It's basically a 2-day class on how to drive your own car to it's limits around a dedicated race course... how cool is that! Ever since I found out, I've been prepping my car for the event. I actually have to get a performance inspection done before my car will be allowed on the track... makes since, since I'll be pushing it pretty hard... I hope :-) I replaced the front brakes a couple weeks back. Day before yesterday I had new tires put on it. Today I flushed and replaced all the brake fluid with higher temp DOT 4 fluid. Angela was wonderful and helped me bleed the fluid through the lines. I also replaced the rear brakes today and tracked down (& hopefully fixed) a suspension squeak I had in the right-rear. I think I should be good for the inspection now... we'll see. I hope to get it done this week.

I didn't run this morning... Angela & I went after sunset. Today was long run day, so the goal was simply to finish. Firt time doing 3.5miles, and our plan was to do our 2mile course, have some water then do our 1.5miler. Things actually went well, and I'm proud of Angela! She stuck with it the entire time... we finished together!!! 37minutes even (10:34 mile).

1/2 Marathon Training - Day 39

This morning was one of those days that makes me wish I could keep track of my pace during our run. I felt like crap even though I was running a "slow" pace. Angela & I stayed side-by-side for about half the run then she started dropping off the pace a bit. I felt like I was dogging it, and I was breathing a little harder than usual... nothing major, just noticeable. Anyway, I was really fighting with myself about walking for a bit. Finally, at about 2miles I made a deal with myself (there's lots of time to have conversations with yourself when you're running ;-)... If I walked, I better finish hard and not stop again no matter how much I wanted to. So, I walked for a bit... maybe only a couple hundred feet. I ran the rest of the way... not my hardest, but quicker at least. Once I checked the times it became obvious why it felt harder than I thought it should've. My time was 24min 34sec (9:50 mile) Surprised me. Bad thing is, this means I should probably expect a reality check on Sunday... ugh...

Angela's time: 27min 15sec (10:54 mile)

Oh, no running Thursday... I had a convenient excuse... I had to get to work early. Then I was just lazy and didn't feel like it when I got home.

1/2 Marathon Training - Day 37

I wasn't much up for doing anything yesterday morning so running was a no-go... put it off till today. Unfortunately that means I'll be running 3 days in a row. Angela has decided that she wants to start running in the evenings, so we'll probably be going solo here for a while. Temps are getting cooler here lately... upper 50's during my run this morning. Plus I got started a bit earlier today as well so it was dark the entire time. Entire run felt good for a change. 25min 25sec (10min 10sec mile).

[UPDATE] Angela ran 2 miles after work today in 21min 35sec (10:47 mile)

1/2 Marathon Training - Day 34

Time for our first 3 miler :-) Angela was up for it (ok... as much as a motivated type person that hates running can be up for it!) I wasn't... In other words, pretty typical! It's been suggested that on longer runs water should be consumed about every 20min so we decided to put some dixie cups out on our mail box, and then run 2 laps around our 1.5mile course. This way we could get a little water halfway through without having to carry it. turned out pretty well... after the first mile and a half we dropped to a walk, downed the water, tossed the cups in the yard and continued on... felt like real runners ;-) Things went pretty well. Angela stuck with me up until about 2.5mile then she dropped to a walk for just a short distance. I picked it up with about 1/3mile to go and had a good finish. End result M-31min 30sec (10:30mile), A-32min 20sec (10:47mile)

1/2 Marathon Training - Day 32

Ugh... This morning wasn't exactly stellar for either of us :-( Angela mentioned not feeling up for it but wanted to get it over with anyway. I suggested we do 2 laps around our 1 mile route instead of our normal 2 mile route. That way she could bow out if needed and not have a long walk home ;-) We agreed that was the plan so off we went. It didn't feel too bad to begin with but after about 3/4mi it did. After the 1st lap Angela dropped to a walk, I checked my watch and noticed it had been about 10min 40sec, and continued on. I actually dropped to a walk as well on a hill with about 1/2 mile to go... but only for a short ways. End result was 23min 8sec (11min 34sec mile). Angela finished about 45sec later. We'll need to regroup before Sunday's 3.0 miler :-/

1/2 Marathon Training - Day 29 & 31

Monday night Angela had a soccer game so the Tuesday morning run was just me. I felt good, but turned out the pace was slower than I thought... 10 min 14 sec mile for a total of 20 min 28 sec for the total 2 miles.

Last night Angela finally decided to get some running shoes (uh oh... she's committed now!) This morning we both did the 2 miles together... she took off like a rocket! Note to self... must be the shoes ;-) Since I planned on running a quicker pace today I decided to try to hang with her... I soon relized she was going way faster than I wanted so I settled into my usual spot... behind her :-\ I was definitely running a quicker pace than normal though so I was ok with that. She maintained her lead for quite a ways and I was struggling. That quick pace in the beginning was wearing on me. Overall the end result was a 19 min 58 sec total (9 min 59 sec mile) for me, and a 20 min 23 sec total (10 min 11 sec mile) for Angela. I may give her strategy one more shot (start strong then back it down after that in the hopes it feels "easier" to keep going for the long haul)... but if today is any indication... it's painful!