2:48:17

I finished the Hampton's Half Marathon (in the rain) in 2 hours, 48 minutes and 17 seconds. It's not fast for most runners, but it's the best I've done so far. While I'm happy that I finished within the time frame that I wanted to finish in, I also feel I could have done better. My legs started to feel very tight in the last two miles. I'll have to start doing a lot of flexibility training. I'm confident that if I had done that in the last couple of months it would have made a big difference in my performance yesterday. My next planned race isn't until January 2009 and that's a FULL marathon. While I was running yesterday, in those last two miles I found myself thinking "Do I really want to tackle a full marathon? At this rate, I'll be on my feet for close to 6 hours. Who wants to be on their feet for six whole hours?" For the life of me I couldn't manage to convince myself that doing a full marathon actually is a good idea. But alas, I already paid the entrance fee.

Four More Days To Go

I've been horrible at updating this blog. I never would have thought that committing to updating a blog on a regular basis would be work.
I've been mostly keeping up with my training plan, but not eating as well as I should be. I feel like I'm getting stronger and more efficient with my running, but I guess the proof will be in the run this weekend, the Hampton's Half Marathon. I'd like to finish it in 2:45, but as long as I finish it in less than 2:53:58 I will be satisfied. It's supposed to rain over the weekend, so please pray to the rain Gods and ask them to hold off until Saturday afternoon.

I Need to Do A Long Run

I've been trying to keep up with my training plan which calls for 2 days of cross training and 3 days of running each week. I wish I could say that I've been keeping up with all of my training, but the truth is that I haven't done a long run yet. I haven't hit the road in a long time and running on the treadmill is just so darn boring. My plan is to get up early tomorrow morning and go out for a 12 mile run before work.
I had been eating really well and I lost a few ponds, but I fell off the wagon big time in the past week and I put a couple of those pounds back on. I gotta climb back on that wagon.
Wish me luck...

Cross Training

I took a rest day yesterday. Today I did 35 grueling minutes on the spin bike and then some upper body exercises. My legs feel a little heavy right now, but I think they'll feel fine in the morning.

I came home today and in the mail there was a letter / voucher from Road Runner Sports saying that thanks to my purchases and my friends and family's purchases I've earned a free pair of sneakers up to $100 - YEAH!!! I can't wait to get them. There was a time when I thought $100 was absolutely absurd for a pair of sneakers. I swore I'd never pay more than $40 for any pair of sneakers. Then I started jogging and now I try not to go over $100. So this weekend I'll go to the Road Runner Store in NJ and pick out a new pair of sneakers, I can't wait. Maybe I'll even treat myself to a new pair of shorts too. :)

It's So Easy To Slip Back Into Bad Habits

It's after 1:00 in the morning, I didn't exercise tonight, and I'm still awake and I really don't know why. I watched Venus and Serena duke it out on the court, it really was a great (heart wrenching) match because obviously there can only be one winner. I silently rooted for Venus, but in the end Serena won. The truth is, I'm just as happy for Serena as I am sad for Venus.
Good Night

Today's Workout

Today's workout was a 1 mile warm up, 4 - 800 meter runs with a 2 minute rest interval in between each 800 meters and then a 10 minute cool down. It didn't seem too hard, I wonder if I should be running these workouts at a faster pace. I ran at the pace that I want to do the half marathon in. Maybe I should hold off and see how I feel tomorrow before I call it an easy workout.

Treadmill Running is Sooooo Boring

I went to the basement yesterday with a very ambitious goal of running 12 miles on the treadmill. Yes, 12 miles on the treadmill. Well, I did at least make it through six miles. When I run on the treadmill I try to come up with games to play to get me through the miles. I decide to run a mile, walk for 1 minute, run a mile walk for a minute... then I switch it up and run a 1/4 mile at one pace and then increase the pace every 1/4 mile until it's just too difficult, then I start decreasing the speed every 1/4 mile. Then I start to play with the incline, but the truth never changes, that treadmill running is just soooo boring and I still haven't done a long run for the week. I really need to get out of the house and hit the streets for a nice long run with sun and breezes and changing scenery.
Tonight I'll get on my spin bike for some cross training. I'll stay on the bike for about 30 minutes.