Half Marathon Training Update

I never wrote about last Friday’s run because it turned into a busy day at work, but El and I knocked out a good 6.5 miles last week. I really wasn’t feeling it. For some reason my ankle was super sore, but we stuck with it and finished what we started. We originally wanted to knock out 7.5, but with a 5k on Sunday we decided to scale it back a little so our legs wouldn’t be too tired for the run. Must’ve been a good call since I PRed in that 5k by almost two minutes. :) Due to work stuff, I had to move this week’s run from Friday to Thursday morning. I think the running gods were mad at me for doing that and turned on the rain in protest. It started as just a light drizzle when El and I met at 6am to head to the Lakefront and was a full on downpour by the time we ended.

When I saw the rain, I made a decision to run whatever distance I could muster. I had thought of running 7.5 miles, but the rain squashed that number. So instead, I went into the run with no set goal, but to rather survive. :P

El and I kicked off the run at our usual spot along the Lakefront and the rain picked up as well. We were running our normal path north, which was directly into the rain. That was uncool rain uncool. It was getting into our eyes and more importantly our contacts. Not the best running conditions. While wiping rain from our faces, we decided to run 2.5 miles north and then turn around and run the 2.5 miles back for a total of 5 miles. A perfectly respectable distance.

Despite the rain, the run was 10 times better than last week’s long run. I felt good, in control and pain-free in my ankle/leg. I finished 5.01 miles in 49:55, which thankfully came in just under 10 min/mile.

Overall, the run was comfortable. I didn’t listen to my music at all. I actually didn’t even have my headphones in my ears. I really just let my feet hit the pavement and chat with El as we went. As always, I felt better physically and mentally when we finished. Nothing like some free therapy from a friend. :P

The official Half Marathon training begins next week as that marks 12 weeks until the F^3 Half on January 28.

Remember, I am running the race for the Ryan and Jenny Dempster Foundation. I am still accepting donations here!