Half Marathon Training [week 2]

Week 2 of half marathon training is in the bag! I felt pretty strong this week, especially compared to last week. Last week's migraine really killed me... I'm hoping it's awhile before another bad one hits.

Monday was definitely my strongest 5k ever. I finally finished a sub-30 5k. Granted, I finished in 29:59, but that one second counted! When I hit 2.5 miles and it read my time as 25 minutes, I panicked a little because I had two hills in front of me and was running into the wind. I actually faltered and walked a few steps before I was like, What are you doing? You can DO this. And I did. My splits were 10:23, 9:32, and 9:12.
I was a little tired and sore Tuesday, after two full days of teaching and pushing myself during Monday's run. I missed that sub-30 by six seconds, but I still felt strong. Splits were 10:10, 9:44, and 9:20. Another good negative split!

Wednesday, I followed the Tough Mudder workout and managed to not die. This is a good thing.

Thursday, heh. Thursday killed me. I knew there was a winter storm coming, but I convinced myself that I could run in it. Until I stepped outside and chipped all the ice and snow off my car and almost fell three times doing so. I swallowed my pride and trudged back inside the school to use the treadmill. A little note about me and treadmill running: I haven't done it in, oh, four years. And when I last did it, I was just starting out running and really did more of a fast walk with a few occasional jogs thrown in. So I didn't really run on it. However, I've always heard people say that treadmill runs are faster and easier, so I was all, I'm going to kill this run! It's going to be so fast! Yay easy fast run!
I love it when the universe laughs at me. I am, apparently, not a treadmill runner. I couldn't figure out pacing. I'm used to listening to my legs and letting them tell me when to speed up and slow down. Pushing buttons? Yeah, that doesn't really work for me. Looking at a wall mirror while I'm running? DEFINITELY doesn't work for me. I am horrified at how, uhh, bouncy things are. In one week, I ran my fastest and slowest 5k. I'm nothing if not random.

Friday, I again survived the Tough Mudder workout. And I managed to do a grand total of one real pushup (aka, with my knees off the floor).

Today, I finished strong with a snowy run. It took forever to find my motivation today. I had a little headache. Tommy was sick and woke me up in the middle of the night, needing comfort and snuggles. I finally pushed myself out the door and I was so glad. It was only a four mile run (funny how my miles have actually decreased for the time being!).
It was COLD and the sidewalks weren't all clear, so I stuck to the roads in places that were not heavily trafficked. My head felt light once I got out in it. As much as I detest snow, it is pretty and covered up all the ugliness of January. My splits weren't perfect, but I had to walk through a knee high snow drift at mile three. Without that, I probably could've achieved a negative split. Still, I was pretty close with splits of 11:01, 10:20, 10:43, 9:39. I am probably going to feel this run in my hips tomorrow, as I had to brace myself to keep from slipping and sliding for most of the run. In a few places, I opted to leap over snow that was piled around driveways and I kind of felt like a kid. It was fun!

It was definitely a good one! I have to say how much I love Mizuno breath thermo gear for winter running. The headband keeps my head so warm that I didn't need to pull up my hood, and the gloves keep my hand so toasty that I've yet to make it through a whole run without needing to pull them off to let my hands cool down.

I am glad I had a good week. I felt like last week was kind of a bad start to training and worried that it was a bad sign. I'm glad week two turned it around for me!