Running: First things first right? How’s the running going?
Good, great and border line awesome! Saturday before last I hit 10 miles and I
did 10 miles again this Sunday! A lot of training plans for a first timer’s
half marathon will tell you to get to ten miles and that you are ready for the
half, so with that said I feel REALLY confidant that I’m ready! This last month
will be for fine tuning and preparing. This is my plan; I will run my longs –
while trying out my running gear – while trying out different type of
re-fueling to see what works and what does not – while trying to improve my
time.
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GEAR- I have some thought on what I’m going to
wear the day of, the thought that it will be VERY Cold is a GOOD possibility so
here is my game plan- I bought some cold gear tights and I tried them out the on
both 10 mile runs when it was 38 degrees – not bad didn’t get hot in them and I
felt like it could have been colder and I still would have been just fine. First
time I wore a short sleeve dri-fit top with a hoodie over it- not bad although
I did get hot with the hoodie, I was able to ditch it at my friend’s house
along my run. Although it was around the same temps on both runs one was sunny
and the other was not, second run I kept the hoodie on the entire time!! So as
many runners recommend I think I’m going to buy an inexpensive hoodie that I
can ditch along the way and not have to worry about, maybe I will hit up some
thrift stores and see what I can find. I didn’t mind the short sleeve top too
much, if I felt cold I just speed up a bit and normally didn’t get bothered by
it much. I will try a long sleeve and
see how that works out… I did find a cheap pair of gloves and I ran with them
on my second 10 miler, I’m glad they are cheapies I think I’d need some I can
dispose of if I need to. Lastly I think I’ll need ear warmers… it’s a good
thing I have a month to work out the details, plus it’s gotten cold here so,
perfect weather to try things out!
·
FUEL- When running there comes a time to refuel.
This time varies for everyone but here’s the deal… can you run a half marathon
without re-fueling? Yes but it’ll be a better run if you do re-fuel. But how
and when? For each of its different, how fast you’re going and your digestive
system has lot to do with it. So glad I have some time to sort this out a
little better for myself :) But when should I start to refuel? All I
can say is I’ve read and asked other runners and a rule of thumb is to start to
re-fuel about 45 minutes in and then every 45 minutes after that. According to
my pace I’ll be out there somewhere between 2.5-3 hours!! Yikes!
·
Time – So far, my time has been okay. I have not
speed up drastically but I’m okay with that :-) I am going to set my ultimate goal time to
finish my Half Marathon in 2:45, I will ultimately
be happy if it’s with a few minutes of my goal. My other goals for this race to
give it my best and finish a Half Marathon!! LOL! I have taken a break from
really speed training for some time, focusing more on my distance than anything
else, I think that these final weeks I will try to work on speed and see how it
goes!
