Running Update

A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to start my 1/2 marathon training. After all ... when I registered for the race, I had about 11 months to train. So I did nothing. And then, suddenly, I only had 5 months. How did that happen??! Anyway, I went through the Hal Higdon novice 1/2 marathon plan and the Hal Higdon novice 5k plan and wrote out 19 weeks of training in my calendar. IN PEN. Every single day from May 3rd to September 12th has some sort of workout (or, you know, rest day). So far, I have stuck to the plan every single day!

I started very slowly - at around 1.75m. I am now up to 2.25m runs. Like I said - starting slow. But I have been feeling great, and strong, and I'm staying steady at around a 10 minute mile - which is HUGE for me. Last summer when I did the running training group, I was at a pretty solid 12 minute mile. I know it might not seem like much difference (I know - they are both SLOW!), but for an incredibly un-athletic person like me ... it's a big deal. :)

That being said, I think I'm going to run a neat trail run 5k at Brown County State Park in a couple of weeks. My friend Becky told me about it this morning, and it sounds pretty neat and different than my usual runs around the neighborhood. I have a 2.75m run scheduled for that day, so it will just be a little more of a stretch at 3.1m. I'm a little intimidated by the description of the course - the first mile is apparently uphill, then some rolling hills, and a gradual one mile downhill. Whew. But the biggest challenge to me is that headphones/ipods are prohibited. I NEED music when I run - it really gets me through. So I'm definitely a little nervous about running without music. I think I'll give it a shot on my run tomorrow. For those runners out there - do you run with or without music? What are your strategies for non-music running?

Last but not least ... the Garmin Forerunner 110 is on my wish list (in grey and pink, of course!).

This is the newest Forerunner - it's pretty basic, but I've been told it still has everything I need. Sidenote: why is the basic Forerunner still $250??? Not cool, Garmin. Not cool. They are literally brand new - I think they came out at the end of April. Or March? Can't remember. I'm hoping that after a couple of months, they'll start popping up on Ebay. Fingers crossed!

So anyway, that's what's going on with running. I'll keep you posted as my mileage increases!