Half Marathon Training: Weeks 2 - 4

Saturday (4 miles): My calves were still iffy, but I wasn’t going to miss a Saturday run.  About half a mile into it, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to make it back if I went the whole way, so I turned around and ended up only going 3, maybe 3.5 miles.  BUT, I wasn’t able to walk.  It hurt so much worse when I walked, so I jogged the whole thing.  Except it was more of a shuffle than a jog.  I’m pretty sure I looked completely ridiculous.

Monday (3 miles): I didn’t run.  It was the week of Christmas.

Thursday: No scheduled run, Christmas Eve

Saturday (5 miles): I didn’t run this one either!!  Terrible, I know.  I don’t remember if it’s because it was the holidays or what, but I didn’t run.  I do know that my calves were still hurting (hint, we are currently on week 5 and they still hurt, haha, but not nearly as badly)

Monday: We didn’t have a scheduled run this day, it was New Year’s eve.

Thursday (3 miles): I was back in training mode!  I surprisingly had a great run!

Saturday (6 miles): I was SO SO SO nervous for these 6 miles.  I hadn’t run either of the last 2 “long” runs, and I have never run 6 miles before.  Yikes.  But, we set out, and I actually kept up with my pace group!!  First time ever!  I was SO proud of myself.  My calves hurt pretty bad the first 3-4 miles, but after that, it was like I got them warmed up and they were okay the last few miles.  Just as  aside note, we do not actually run the entire thing, not even on week days.  I’m the slowest pace group, remember?  We still walk 1, run 1.  And we will do this the entire training, and I will do it for the half also.  I might do walk 1, run 2, but I will still be doing intervals then.  Also, we average about a 15 mile minute.  So, when I was all self conscious about marking my pace as 13mi/min, I am now laughing at myself, because I was even slower than that!!

I was pumped that I had 1) run SIX miles!, and 2) kept up with my pace group! But when I got home, I could barely walk, my calves were hurting so badly.  Lee talked me into taking an ice bath.  Oh my gosh.  The second I stepped in, my feet went numb.  I’m not kidding, I couldn’t feel them immediately.  It was so cold that it was very painful.  But, after the first 2-3 minutes, my whole body was numb and it wasn’t a big deal to sit in there for a total of 10 minutes.  And after?  My legs felt much better!!  It was definitely worth it.

Monday (4 miles): So, on week days, we can run whatever we want.  They recommend 3-4 miles.  And most everyone in my group usually does 3.  But, I was kind of still on a high from Saturday, so I went 4 miles.  I ran the first 2 alone, and the last 2 with a girl from my group, one of the ones who runs a faster pace than me.  When we got back to the store (where we meet), I was talking about my calves, and some other people started helping me.  Come to find out, it is probably shin splints!  Even though it’s my calf.  But it’s the inside of my calf, where it meets the front of my leg.  Anyway, I was told to try compression socks, so I ordered some online.

Thursday (3 miles): I ran with my pace group this time, and we just ran 3.  Running is so much more fun when you’re doing it with people and chatting.  I was always told that, but never believed that I would be able to carry on a conversation while running!

I’m going to go ahead and say what I thought I’d never say: I like running.  I look forward to it.  Who am I?

Half Marathon Training: Week 1

My first run with my training group was on a Saturday.  (We run Monday, Thursday, and Saturday – Saturday being our long runs)

We were supposed to run 3 miles.  Just 3.  But I was beyond nervous because I had never run 3 miles before.  I mean, I’d gone 3 miles before, but some running, a lot of walking.  And when I signed up, it said you needed to be able to run 3 miles. 

I kept whining (in case you didn’t know, I’m a whiner, and sadly I’ve passed that fine trait onto my child) that I didn’t want to be the last person, and everyone would say the thing you’re supposed to say, “who cares if you’re last, the important thing is you’re doing it!”  Come on, let’s all just agree that it sucks to be the last one, because it does. But I showed up.

When I signed up, you had to tell them your pace (how many minutes it takes you to run a mile).  The choices were 8,9,10,11,12,13,14+  My pace? 13 min/mile (and that’s actually my fastest time). I didn’t sign up in time to get the email about what pace group you were in.  So, I walked around that morning looking at all the signs.  The slowest one I could find was a 12+ group.  That was my group. 

When it was time to start running, my group took off…walking!  Hooray! I was so happy.  We walked for 5 minutes and then everyone started running, including myself.  But, I didn’t keep up with everyone.  From what I could tell they were doing intervals: walk some, run some, walk some, etc.  But, I never did keep up, and really, I didn’t care.  Honestly there were so many out on the (public) trail, that you really didn’t know if someone was with a group or not, so that made me feel better.

Anyway, I wasn’t last!  BUT, the few people that were behind me?  They turned around before the halfway mark to meet back up with the group!  I was so mad.  But I did end up passing them later :)  Don’t let that fool you though.  I was going s.l.o.w.  Like, the last 1/4 of a mile, I was keeping pace with a 70+ year old couple that was walking while I was running!!  But thank goodness for them.  We started talking and that really got me through the last part.  I was grateful.  They were training for a half marathon, and it was so cute :)  They asked if they were holding me up.  Haha!

So, that first run was tough, but not as bad as I was expecting.

The second run that week was on Monday.  3 miles again.  This time, I ran almost the entire thing!  I got held up at a stoplight after 2 miles.  I met 2 girls from my running group at the light, and they were running intervals: Run 1, Walk 1.  So I joined them.  Holy lord.  It was more like SPRINT 1, walk 1.  Haha.  But I went the last mile with them.  And I was so happy that I ran most of the whole run!  However, I really hurt my calves on that last mile.  Like really hurt.  I could barely walk to my car.

No matter what I did, I couldn’t get my calves to stop hurting.  So when Thursday rolled around, I didn’t go run.  It just hurt sooo bad.  I was really frustrated and wondered if they would ever get better. 

So, that was my first week.  I was disappointed that I didn’t run every scheduled run, but I was so glad that I had gotten started.  That’s the hardest part.