I'm Running My Life…

Thanks for stopping by.  If this is your first time reading one of my training post, this time around I’m prepping to PR on my half in Dallas, TX in December 2015 and sharing my experiences along the way.  You can read the previous weeks below:

• Week 1
• Week 2

Week 3 September 21-27, 2015

Monday

I’m sure you can guess how my Monday mornings are set-up (this is a work in progress).  My alarm goes off but I just stay put.  I figured since the weather is changing, I can get my run in after boot camp.  So, that’s exactly what I did.

My whole evening was very interesting.  The start of boot camp I was all in my feelings and figured I would use the weights to try and get out my head… that worked a little.  Guess the body was really feening  for a run.   After boot camp, I headed over to the Riverfront.  To my surprise, I started out doing the wrong workout 😦 .  It wasn’t too bad since I was only in a little over a mile.  I adjusted but still wasn’t really feeling being out there.  I made some serious modifications to this workout.  I ended up sprinting the repeats and walking the cool downs in between each repeat.  I finished with a one mile cool down (walking of course).  At least I can say I was out there…right?

Tuesday

I woke up feeling amazeballs this morning.  Today was an easy run day of six miles at my conversational pace.  Looks like I averaged an 8:30 pace.  I met my BGR! sole sistahs for a six mile run which set the tone for the rest of my day.  Running really does make me feel good.

Later that day was boot camp.  Ken had us working on legs.  Let me just say “I LOVE BOOT CAMP” but OUCH!!!

Wednesday

Got it in again this morning with #Team5amNE of BGR! Columbia. Doing 8X800 meter runs after leg day should have been thought out more carefully. Needless to say, my warm up was slow LoL, but I stayed pretty consistent with each 800 meter run at 7:45 pace with a one minute static rest in between each. Not bad if I do say so myself LoL.

Thursday

Things never go as planned.  I woke up this morning and decided I was just going to walk it out with my BGR! sole sistahs since I knew I was running Race 13.1 on Sunday.  I decided to bring Cooper along since it was his birthday.  I figured he would really enjoy the walk.  NOOOOO!!!! Cooper wanted to run, so run we did.

Friday

My plan was to ride my bicycle but the way the weather was set-up, I wasn’t able to get a ride in.  Oh well…life happens.

Saturday

Today marked the 4th anniversary of the start of BGR! Columbia.  In honor of another successful year, the group ambassadors held the 4th Anniversary Run/Walk Celebration.  The rain kept a few of the sole sistahs inside but a few of us still showed up to pound the pavement.  Since my long run day was moved to Sunday, I just figured I would get a walk in while enjoying the fellowship with my sole sistahs.

Sunday

Being the brand ambassador for Race 13.1 Charlotte and Charleston, SC., I just felt the need to be present for the first inaugural run in Charlotte today.  The race started and ended at the Toringdon office park in Ballantyne, NC.  I switched my training days around so today was a 12 miler.  The extra 1.1 mile and the bling at the end of the run was a bonus.

I thought the course was really great.  The first 3-4 miles were rolling hills through some neighborhoods and the rest of the race took place on the Four Mile Creek Greenway.  Even with the rain, the course was pretty awesome.  I was just worried about falling and/or slipping because most of the greenway was made of wooden planks.

I’m only in week 3 of my training thus far and let me tell you…I have my work cut out for me.  I ran okay but it surely was not my best run.  It was raining throughout the race, I ran without socks on (never again) which caused me to have a blister that I noticed around mile 8 😦 .  I ended up running and walking around mile 9 then again around mile 10, 11 and 12.  Shoot, I even walked a little at mile 13 (who does that).  Well my foot was screaming “you idiot”.  Oh well, going into this run, I knew it was just a training run and I handled it as such.  I’m not going to beat myself up because I didn’t PR.

Even though I didn’t get all my miles in for the week (because I walked on Thursday), I still felt as though I had an amazing week of training.

Running Tip:

With running in the rain, it is great to be prepared.   This article may come in handy to prepare you for just that.  I’m glad my half was just a training run for the books because it taught me what not to wear.

As I stated above, I ran this run without any socks…big mistake.  Even though I had lathered my feet up pretty good with some Vaseline, I could still feel my foot rubbing up against the side of my shoe.  Going forward, I will make sure I wear a pair of wicking socks to help prevent blisters from forming.

Do you train in the rain?