Week 2 in the books

I have completed 2 weeks of training towards my 1/2 marathon program. It feels good, but I know in the weeks to come that it will become more challenging and push my limits more than ever before.

Today I had scheduled a 3 mile run and was lucky to be able to do it on the road versus the gym before Scott left for work. I woke up with a headache and was dreading running my 3 miles today. Knowing that I was on a time limit to get it done, I got dressed and headed out. As soon as I hit the pavement I felt great. The cool morning air was doing wonders for my headache and I felt strong, maybe a little too strong because I ran down my 1 mile street maybe faster than I should have. As I got to the 1 mile mark there was a walker ahead of me so I sprinted to the intersection to make it across the street without having to stop and wait for the light. All that effort in the first part of my run made for pain in the last mile of my run. This is my normal 2 mile route, but I added a little to it to get my 3 miles in today. On the return I veer off of the bike path and onto a pedestrian path because the bike path really narrows. It just feel's safer on the pedestrian path rather than sharing the road with the cars and bikes in this particular area. The only other downside to this, other than the obvious concrete versus pavement is, it's uphill. Typically on my 2 mile run, I get to slow to a cool down walk around the uphill portion. Not today, today I powered through the pain. I felt the pain in my thighs which was good because I knew my muscles were working hard. As I crested to the highest point it felt like I was running in place because I was moving so slow. As soon as I thought I was going to keel over, I hit the downhill portion and finally back to flat. Overall, the run felt good, I even planned the route so that I would have to run up some of my 1 mile street. We all know how much I detest hills, but I also know that hills will make me a stronger runner, so I'm working on it.

Glad that the week is over and that tomorrow I get to work on stretching and strength training. Next week I'll be working on increasing my mileage, wish me luck. I should run 4 miles next Sunday, which will be the most I have ever run! Scary and exciting all at the same time!

Week end totals:

Bike: 15.53 miles
Run: 7 miles