Half Marathon Report

On Sunday, January 13, I ran the Half Marathon in Houston. The start was pretty chilly, probably about 47 degrees. I ran in shorts with a long-sleeve performance shirt and a t-shirt over that. I started out in the second wave, which got going at 7:10 am. The course was really great. The crowd was huge, of course. It was pretty hard to navigate through the people at the beginning. I stayed on the left side of the road the whole time and managed to stay out of the thick groups. I managed to keep about a 10:45 pace for the first 9 miles. Then I started getting really sluggish and I ended up finishing in 2:27:02. The last 4 miles were really slow, about a 12:20 pace. I was a little disappointed that I wasn't faster. My first half was 2:22. My training wasn't very consistent for the last month, however. Also, I didn't eat very well the day before and I think that hurt me in the endurance part of the race.
Now I'm starting the training all over so I can improve my performance in my next half, which will be April 6. I'm going to use Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half training plan, which is designed to improve times. When I finish in April, I'm going to start Higdon's Personal best plan, which is a combination Spring Training/ Marathon training plan. I hope to finally incorporate strength training into my workouts next week. I'm also working on a plan to cut out Dr. Pepper from my diet! I am going to need to lose weight in order to really improve my speed.

Sick Day

I woke up at 5:05 am this morning to the sounds of my 4 year old throwing up.  Not a great alternative to my alarm clock, that plays the greatest hits of the 60s, 70s, and 80s in the morning.  So, I get to stay home today, which isn't really great timing, as I have a weekly meeting at work on Tuesdays and a department meeting after school. 

I went to the gym Sunday to do my long run, since my husband was working.  The weather was gorgeous, so I hated running on the treadmill.  But I had a good run - 8 miles in 84:25, which was about a 10:34 pace.  I stopped at 2, 4, and 6 miles for a water break, trying to simulate when I'd stop during the half on Sunday.  My water breaks lasted about a minute.  It was a good pace to run, though, and I hope I can keep that up this weekend.  The weather is supposed to be pretty cold - starting temps in the 40s - I'm still debating how I'm going to dress.  Probably long sleeve with tshirt over it and shorts.  I might wear a ski cap on my head though - which could contribute to some odd pictures.  I'll have to look more closely at this as the weekend nears.

Tonight, I hope to hit the gym to run and run 4 or 5 miles.  I'm thinking about starting a boot camp class next week.  It meets on Tuesday and Thursday nights, is 12 weeks long, and would probably go a long way to help me get in strength training.

Goals for 2008

I've tried many times before to blog, and I have never been able to keep up with it.  I hope to do it differently this time!  I have many goals set for 2008 and I think having a blog will help me keep up with them and hold me accountable for the changes I want to make.

I am a wife, a mom, a friend, a sister, a daughter, an educator, and a runner.  It's hard trying to balance all the different parts and maintain my sanity.  Running has helped me alot with that.  I can definitely tell when I need to go running!

Last week, I set lots of fitness goals for myself.  They were easy to set and the first ones that I worked on.  

1.  I want to run a marathon this year.  I was training to run the Houston Marathon, which is next weekend, but by training slacked off in November and by December I knew I wouldn't be ready.  Instead, I'm going to shoot for the Rock N Roll marathon in San Antonio in November.  That will be a much better training time for me, starting in July or August.  

2.  I want to lose 15-20 pounds.  If I ever plan to qualify for the Boston marathon, I'm going to need to be extremely fit and a lot lighter.  I'm 130 now, which is an okay weight, but I could be a better runner at 110-115.  To lose weight, I'm going to need to clean up my diet and quit drinking Dr. Pepper.  I wish I had a magic pill to take to make me not like soda.  It's probably the unhealthiest habit I have, but I can't bring myself to quit drinking it yet.  But I know I'd lose 10 pounds if I quit drinking it.

3.  I want to improve my speed as a runner.  This means more serious workouts and training.  I'm planning to start over on the 14th and train for a half marathon in April.  I will follow Hal Higdon's Intermediate training plan, which involves speed workouts.  I haven't set a time goal yet - I'm waiting until after the half I'm running on the 13th to see how I do.  

4.  I need to add strength training to my workouts.  My goal is to get this started on the 14th, after next weekend's race.  My gym is starting a 12 week boot camp that week and if that works with my schedule, I'll probably do that.  Otherwise, I like the workouts included with the Abs Diet, so I may just work those into my schedule.

I also have some goals that don't relate to fitness.  My house is a wreck and needs to be purged and cleaned and redecorated!  I would like to do more family things on the weekends, like going to the movies, the zoo, and the museums in Houston.  I need to start making time to get this stuff done.  I don't like leaving things incomplete, though, and I know that the house projects are large and require a weekends worth of time to get them done.  I guess I just need to create a schedule and stick to it!!!

This is alot for today.  See you next time!