Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Brain v. Body

My brain and my body are at war this week.   

This week has been made up of a bout with a stomach bug and a general run-down tiredness, an incredibly busy non-running schedule, and a trip out of town for the weekend. 

With all of this, the body is saying “I don’t care if you’re in the middle of training for a half marathon; I need a break”.

The brain is saying, “but you’re in the middle of training for a half marathon, you need those runs and those miles to be ready.”

The body replies, “But I need rest to heal, recover and revive.”

Brain, “But you need training.”

And on and on, you get the picture.   

So here I am, in the middle of week 4 of my half training, listening to my body, and taking a rest week. 

While it feels a bit counterproductive, I’m fairly sure missing one training week (and a shortened one at that) isn’t going to put me too far behind.  I really do need the training time, but I’m hoping in the end it’s the right thing to do.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Faith

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
- Hebrews 11:1

This verse is really calling to me this evening.  Don't know why, but I just feel compelled to share it. 

Half Marathon Training Week 3 - 2/27 - 3/4

Another week done.  It was a week of highs and lows, good runs and bad runs, runs that were easy and runs that were a struggle.

Monday's tempo run was one of the easy runs - I had a plan to keep the pace under 10 minutes per mile, with a goal pace of 9:45 minutes per mile, which I very happily did.   Tuesday was my hill day, and I added a repeat, bringing my total times up the hill to 4.  Felt like crap while doing it (in case you didn't already know - hills are hard! ;-) ) but despite it being a slow shuffling run, I was running all the way up, all 4 times.  Thursday was my tempo interval day and Marc was out with me on his longboard, which gave me just the inspiration and motivation I needed to nail the intervals.  Friday was "fun run" day (no plan,  no goal, no set anything, except to get out there and run because it's fun) but severe weather - bad storms and tornado warnings - kept me inside where I would be safe and dry.  Sunday was supposed to be my long run, but the odds were stacked against me and I didn't get all the miles that I needed or wanted.  I probably could've toughed it out, but I think the cost of that would've been greater than the cost of wimping out (it was better in the long run (pun intended) to bail and be healthy enough to run other days than to push it and miss out on more days)  Luckily I have some cushion weeks in my schedule so I have time to build up the long runs even with a missed one here and there.

Monday 2/27 - tempo run - 4.09 miles; 2 mile cool down run w/ Marc - 1.96 miles
Tuesday 2/28 - Hill run - 3.02 miles,
Wednesday 2/29 - running rest day; Strength workout - Jillian Michaels 6 week 6 pack
Thursday 3/1 - Tempo Intervals - 5.22 miles; Strength - Quick Abs & Arms
Friday 3/2 - Fun run - 0 miles (stayed safe inside)
Saturday 3/3 - Rest day
Sunday 3/4 - shortened long run - 3.32 miles; walk home 0.63 miles
Total Miles - 18.24

On to week 4!!!