On the road again: 8 miles

I’m happy to report that we’re finally getting to the point in training where I don’t hate every minute of it. Or at least those moments when running feels right happen more often and I’m not continually feeling like the fat kid huffing and puffing—except when there are hills. I kind of hate hills.

But anyway, this Saturday morning was a beautiful day for a run, and even though sleeping in might have tempting after a long week, Alisha and I headed out to run around 8:30 a.m. This week, we decided to change up the scenery a bit and get some experience on the actual race course, so instead of our favorite trail in Crockett Park, we hit the pavement near Centennial Park and followed the Country Music Half Marathon course for the first four miles. Then, we deviated off and made up the final 4 miles of our 8 mile long run.

Let me say this: I had missed one of the training runs earlier in the week because of a print deadline on the magazine and an

upload that took WAY longer than expected. By the time I left work, daylight had faded, it was time for supper, I had two dogs at home to take care of (I was dog-sitting my parents’ dog), and I was weary in my bones. So, I expected the long run to go one of two ways: terrible or awesome.

For the most part, awesomeness reigned. I’m never going to run fast, but for most of the run, we stuck to our intervals: 6 minutes running, 2 minutes walking. And for the most part, except on a tough hill and toward the end, we felt really good. There were no red faces or extreme paleness, gasping for air, or dizziness—all of which happened to one or both of us during last year’s training. (I say it’s because I’ve severely cut down the amount of soda I drink and am drinking more water. . . at least that’s my working theory for me.)

But, all in all, 8 miles wasn’t terrible. It was actually good—and the fact that I can say that surprises me! We can TOTALLY do this! (Now I’m all pumped for this week’s running. Let’s hope it goes well!)

And congrats to my Mizzou Tigers, Big 12 Champions!

So here’s Week 5’s run by the numbers:

Distance: 8 miles Location: Downtown Nashville Time: 1:34:19 Average pace: 11’35″ (LOOK: our pace improved over last week’s 11’40”!) If you want to see it on GPS, go here: http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/#//runs/gps/1625581486/623876093/As I train for the half marathon, you’ll see more posts like this. I’m planning to document each long run, so you’ll get to come alongside me for every mile, every irrational I-hate-running-and-why-did-I-sign-up-for-this moment, and every completely random adventure that happens along the way.

#running #training #halfmarathon #runwalk #exercise