*I've been steadily running for 7 months now (5 of those months in the winter!)
*I've ran 4 10Ks & 4 5Ks, setting new PRs at each race
*My weekly running mileage has increased from 4 miles to 20 miles
*I'm in week 7 of my 12 week training for my first Half Marathon
*AND Vanessa and I finally got our "I raced them all" hoodies (which are quite ugly but I love it anyways!)
after we completed our 5th and final race!
Now to summarize yesterday's run. I was SUPER nervous going into it. This race course had been described to us as "the most challenging course yet" and a course of "a long uphill followed by rolling hills." Plus this run was only 2 weeks after our last race which didn't give us ample time to try and work on our speed/endurance. We had a week with a few warmer days so I was keeping my fingers crossed for nice weather Saturday morning but unfortunately the only good thing about the weather yesterday was that the sun was shinning. Other than that, it just hit the 30 degree temperature mark. So another chilly run was upon us!
The run started off with a good start. The first mile went by pretty quickly (probably cause most of this mile was downhill) but then by the second mile things quickly changed. It was the longest mile everrr! I was thinking to myself that they just must not have put a mile marker for mile 2 out and then when I eventually saw it I wanted to cry. Ha. But seriously, I did. The mile 2 marker began the loooong steady uphill climb that would take us to the mile 3 marker. I don't think I ever panted so much and so loud as I did in that uphill climb. Again, much like the other 10Ks, I soooo wanted to stop running at the 5K mark and screw the 10K's second loop! But of course I didn't do that and against my will kept going for lap #2. Mile 3 to 4 felt great cause again, it was mostly downhill. Then mile 4 to 5 was a bit better than mile 2 was because now I knew that this would feel like the longest mile in the history of miles. Then mile 5 to 6 was brutal. The uphill climb was upon us again. But this time I knew the finish line was at the top. So I pushed through it. Put forth whatever energy I had left in my body to hopefully try and set a new PR. Once we had reached the top we were even able to sprint a few yards through the parking lot to the finish line. At this time I was eagerly awaiting to see what our times were going to be when the time clock was BLANK!! This was the most disappointing thing ever! Then we went inside only to find out that they were having "technical difficulties" with the timing system. We waited and we waited and still got no answer. There was talk about how our numbers and names weren't going to match up with our times. Then a list was finally posted! But again to our disappointment, with no times on it. Vanessa and I felt pretty good about things and even though this race kicked our butts', we felt like we gave it our all and had to of shaved off at least one minute from our last race. After too much waiting around and no answers we decided to just leave. We had our sweatshirts, finished the series and were proud of what we had accomplished. We had completed our first season of winter running!
Many hours later I decided to look on the website and see if they were able to resolve their 'timing issue' and see what my final time had been. And unfortunately, I have to say I disagree with the final timing! It had both of us coming in about 20 seconds slower than our last race :( AND it had Vanessa and I finishing 12 seconds apart from one another with someone finishing between us when we strongly crossed that finish line together. So it was kind of a bummer. And normally I'd suck it up and face the fact that I can't set a PR at every race I do but because of all the technicalities I'm not sure if I trust their times.
With all that being said I need to not worry about my time and really embrace all the things I listed at the beginning of this post. This race symbolizes sooo many accomplishments for myself and I should just be proud of that. And now I have my Half Marathon to solely focus on.
I'm more than midway through my training and this is where it's going to start to get grueling. My easy days aren't going to be so easy anymore and I don't have anymore quick 20 minute work out days. I've been able to stick pretty close to my training schedule still with the exception of adding in an extra rest day. Not only is it hard to physically try and work out 6 days a week but it takes a toll on you mentally too. I feel like all I do Monday thru Friday is work, go to the gym, eat something, sleep and do it all over again. It's forced me to miss out on things and spend a little less time with my friends so hopefully it's all worth it in the end! I know one way to change some of this would be to start doing my workouts in the AM but at this time the thought of getting up and working out for an hour before work sounds just completely awful. I don't know how people have the energy to do these types of things before a 9 hour work day! Plus it's still so dark out in the mornings...excuses, excuses I know. Maybe, just MAYBE once our days become a little longer I will try and become a morning runner!
From here on out I'm going to continue to try and write more about my Half Marathon Training which I should be able to do BECAUSE I FINALLY BOUGHT MYSELF A NEW LAPTOP!! Yes, it's official. We just celebrated our one week anniversary yesterday. We had a rough night one day this week when we were trying to sync my phone and iTunes library but we pulled through it and are very content with one another :)
Ok, that's it for now, until next time!
