Week 1 of 5: Mulligan Half Training Report

M: 4m (skipped)

T: Rest (ran 2 miles that night)

W: 5m (with hills)-(skipped)

R: 4m (skipped)

F: Rest

Sa: 11m (10.5 miles on Sunday)

My, oh my. This was a FAIL week as far as training goes. Talk about life getting in the way! November is the end of our billing year so I'm scrambling to get my hours finished, and this is my bestest friend, Christine's, last week at work so I was busy getting together a farewell party for her. I planned my work, but I definitely didn't "work my plan"! I ended up working late almost every night and was exhausted--physically, emotionally...I was beat. So I skipped my workouts. I did get in 2 miles on Tuesday night late. It was cool out, and I really enjoyed it (enjoying running is kinda new to me).

I kind of missed my workouts this week. I missed doing something physical and the stress relief and endorphin rush I get from exercising. I was really nervous about my long run since I skipped so many workouts. I was also nervous about running so long alone (not for safety reasons---just for boredom reasons). But to tell you the truth, I was itching to do something physical! I worked most of the weekend and was emotionally spent from my buddy moving so I just wanted to get out there and zone out.

It was incredible! The first 3 miles were pretty painful--my body was protesting after so much time off. But in mile 4, I hit my stride. I tried a new tactic this run. I ran 1 mile then walked 1 minute. I did this throughout. It was a success! In fact, I hit my mile markers (even with walking) faster than 12 minute miles (which is what I did the last time Jonathan and I ran 10 miles together). It helped to break down the run for me. All I had to tell myself was, "you get to walk in 1 mile." For some reason, this made the run seem less daunting.

I tweaked my knee in mile 7. It didn't hurt immediately, but I could barely walk (much less run) by the end of mile 10. I planned to run 11 miles, felt so great at mile 5 that I decided 12 was possible, but after the pain at 10, I decided to call it good. I'm going to make another run at 12 miles next weekend.

And running alone...I really enjoyed it. I didn't feel the pressure of keeping pace with Jonathan; I didn't even think about too much (I tend to get carried away when I have too much time to think so this is definitely a good thing). It was a gorgeous day, and I just enjoyed being out there and doing something physical. I've wondered if I really will be able to run the half alone, and after today I know that I not only can, but I think I will enjoy running alone. It just felt like so much less pressure. I'm really glad to discover this.

Until the end of November, my schedule is pretty brutal. It will be tough to get in all of my workouts. I'm going to try to take it easy on myself and work them in when I can and cut myself some slack when I can't. I'm actually looking forward to trying for 12 next weekend.