Half marathon - Support and Motivation!

pinbotchick

6 more weeks until the Oct 17th, Detroit 1/2 Marathon!!! I'm starting to get excited.

i almost did the detroit 1/2 marathon!!! are you from MI? i'm from kalamazoo and instead of the detroit i'm doing the park2park 1/2 in holland, MI on september 25th 3 more weeks to go and i am getting excited as well...i ran 11.02 miles on friday in 121 minutes...the cooler weather was a welcome treat for that run!!! best of luck to everyone

I live in Millersburg, MI - about an hour from Mackinaw in the lower peninsula. Kalamazoo is about 4.5 hours from us... I Bells!!!! This will be my first 1/2 and I'm really excited. I wish you the best of luck on your 1/2. I just noticed today that there is a 1/2 in the Soo Sept 25th - I'm going to look at my schedule and see if I can do it (it's only 2 hours from me)... It may be too soon.

curlytop89

Victoria, Good job on your walk this morning. sounds like you had fun. I went for a run with the baby stroller. We have a park with a half mile track and tennis courts and a playground for the kids, so my older two rode their scooters and played and I jogged with the baby stroller. Not my favorite thing, plus it was around 80 by the time I got out this morning. Oh well, at least I got my 4 miles in at a decent pace. I am thinking about doing a half marathon on the 30th of October in New Orleans. There is a run for the children's hospital. We'll see if I can make it in time. I am not sure, but I feel pretty good running right now. Of course I know once I start adding more distance it will be more difficult. I am using Hal Higdon's novice half marathon training program. I am a little worried that my longest run prior to race day is 10 miles. Of course, I only aim to finish without walking this time.

pinbotchick

Marcie - at least you got your run in. I'm using the Runner's World website training program and my longest run before my 1/2 is 11 miles. I think we will both be okay. Several friends walked the bridge with us today (if you want to see pictures and you have facebook, PM your name and I'll request you as a friend) - one of them ran the Detroit 1/2 last year so we talked tons about running on the walk - VERY COOL... I'm getting addicted to running:blushing: . We have both decided next year we will do the Sault Saint Marie race in Sept rather than this year. We are setting a goal to run/walk over all the big bridges in MI... I have to look into the Port Huron bridge to see if they have any walks/runs... I learned today that there is a run over the Mackinaw Bridge on Oct 9th that I may sign up for - it will give me practice for the Detroit Blue Water Bridge (which I have to do on my 1/2)... Mackinaw is only an hour from my home. My goal is to finish without being swept up even if I have to walk...

lisajuly

Hi everyone.

Lost my internet connection at home so I haven't been able to log in all weekend. I'm at the library now. Hopefully, I'll get this all straightened out, otherwise, I'll be posting from here or McD's (*joke*) or anywhere i can find free WiFi.

Sunday, I ran 5.65 on the tm and then today I ran 5 miles @ 10:25 pace.

Can't believe the half is six weeks away (and that means my birthday is 5 weeks away, lol). I tell you, though, last week seems to have been the hardest. Have to buckle down on the eating...I've eaten like crap the last couple of days and while the crap may have fueled my runs, it makes it harder in general.

Marcie, nice pace today! (well, it may have been yesterday at this point, lol)
Victoria WTG on the PR in the 10K! Great work.

See you soon!
Lisa

girlruns

Yay! A half marathon thread! I see this is a couple of months old, but I would love to join up! I am doing a half on November 6th. It will be my second, but my first was in 2007, so this is my first in a long while! Last week was my first week of training finishing with an 8 miler on Sunday (1:21:08). Mondays are my typical rest day, and today I am supposed to do an easy 5. Normally I work out in the morning, but I got so little sleep I put it off. Now we'll see if I find the motivation to do it after work.

I also need to go get a new hydration system. I had a waist camelback, but hadn't used it in ages. When I went to clean it out for Sunday's run I saw the tube had gross stuff in in. Therefore no fuel on the run :grumble: I have another 8 this Sunday so hopefully I can get all the supplies I need (GUs too) before then so I can properly train on that.

Outstanding job everyone!

pinbotchick

Lisa - I agree the last week has been the hardest and I'm shocked my race is 6 weeks away.

I was sooooo tired this morning from the long weekend that I skipped my 2 mile easy run!!! I worked 11.5 hours to make up for having yesterday off (10 clients and the pitfalls of owning your own business!!!). Thurs I should be able to do my 7 mile run. I bump up to 10 for the weekend.

Welcome girlruns!!! We loom forward to getting to know you.

girlruns

Well, I didn't do 5 after work yesterday, so I got up and did it this morning followed by a litte yoga for stretching. Today was supposed to be cross training but since my run got bumped to today, I don't know if I'll do anything more after work--especially since the plan was for some Jillian!

Also ordered a new waist pack for my water last night. I hit up my local running store, but they didn't have what I wanted and they were quite a bit pricier than online. Now we'll see if I can get it before this weekend.

Pinbotchick--I think an 11.5 work day makes up for missing a 2 miler. Rest up for the 7 and 10 and you'll be fine!

Now, with fall right around the corner, how are people dealing with the missing daylight???

pinbotchick

I'm still not feeling good so decided to sleep in and skipped my 7 mile run. I've had a sore throat for 2 days. Hopefully, I feel better by the weekend. Keep up the great work everyone.

curlytop89

Victoria, I am sorry you are not feeling good. I hate when that happens. It is like just when you are feeling good, getting in shape, an injury or illness comes along to sabotage you. Take a rest and don't let it get you down. You will be back at it in no time!

My sinuses are doing better. I did my long run today and went 6.5 miles at a 10:44 pace. Wahoo. Usually when I run that long I am going over 11 or 12 mph. Don't know what the difference is. I just feel comfortable at a little quicker pace this time around. Of course I am about 10-15 pounds lighter than when I trained for my last half, so that probably helps a lot. I have been trying to lose a few pounds as well. I would like to be 150 or so, but I won't die if I don't make it there, it would just be nice. I haven't lost any weight in about 2 weeks and was kinda getting bummed about it, since I have been restricting my calories pretty much everyday. But yesterday I put on a pair of shorts that I hadn't worn in about 3 weeks and they were loose on me. Last time I wore them they were snug. I wasn't even sure they were the right pair! Ha! Guess it's all muscle baby! Okay, I am a little psyched about the shorts thing. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. Now, off to mow the yard. A woman's work is never done.

ljacobson

Hello, I had to chime in here because I am from Michigan also, went to high school in Onaway which is RIGHT by Millersburg! I am actually signed up to do the Park 2 Park race in Holland, but will not be going to it thanks to some coaxing from a co-worker who is running with me and wanted to do the Capital City Half in Lansing instead, its Sept 26th. Now I live in Jackson which is quite close to Kalamazoo. Good luck on your training, its good to see some local Michigan runners on here, small world

girlruns

pinbotchick--hope you are feeling better! It seems everyone I run into is getting sick! I felt achy and draggy last week :sick: and now have spent this whole week trying to get back on track :grumble:

curlytop--great job on picking up the speed! I have noticed huge gains in my pace now that I am 20ish pounds lighter than during my last training stint. Keep it up!

ljacobson--good luck on the upcoming race!

Yesterday was my day for mile splits. 2x1 at 8:25. I "cheated" and hit the treadmill, but was able to do both splits at 7.3 which they actually said was 8:13! I rounded it out with a warm up and cool down mile at 10:00 and a mile of walking at 15:00 for a nice 5 miles. I felt good about the workout, but the cushy belt and worn out shoes made for some achy legs. Time for new shoes!!

Today I'm struggling to find the motivation to do my easy 4. I really need to stick with morning workouts and just work some routes I'm comfortable running in the dark. Stupid city living and Wisconsin dark :mad:

But hey, have a great weekend all and keep up the training!

girlruns

Found my mojo! A new hydration pack to test out and a trip to my local running store got me out the door for 4! Hmm...little ryhmy...

Anyway, I felt really good and finished the 4 in 36:42!!! Lets hope my 8 miler goes as well tomorrow.

a1schwei

Now, with fall right around the corner, how are people dealing with the missing daylight???

I don't know about you but is cramping my style...haha I work in a school so I am readjusting to full-time work and less daylight...I have been getting up earlier and trying to squeeze in a 2-3 mile run before work and to do my longest run on the weekend...my race is 2 weeks from tomorrow (!!!!!!!) I tried to get as ready as possible before school started up again because I knew that it would get harder to get multiple good long runs in during the week

a1schwei

Hello, I had to chime in here because I am from Michigan also, went to high school in Onaway which is RIGHT by Millersburg! I am actually signed up to do the Park 2 Park race in Holland, but will not be going to it thanks to some coaxing from a co-worker who is running with me and wanted to do the Capital City Half in Lansing instead, its Sept 26th. Now I live in Jackson which is quite close to Kalamazoo. Good luck on your training, its good to see some local Michigan runners on here, small world

it is a small world!!!! best of luck with your run!!!!

Sevenm

Well, I'm not running the 1/2 marathon but my wife is and when she started training this summer (with the Running Room's book) she couldn't make it a half klm without stopping. On Sunday she will do 18 klms! It still blows me away! I just ride along side on my bike for support and just in case of emergency as she's diabetic. So believe me, any of you who have doubts, you can do it!

pinbotchick

Now, with fall right around the corner, how are people dealing with the missing daylight???

I don't know about you but is cramping my style...haha I work in a school so I am readjusting to full-time work and less daylight...I have been getting up earlier and trying to squeeze in a 2-3 mile run before work and to do my longest run on the weekend...my race is 2 weeks from tomorrow (!!!!!!!) I tried to get as ready as possible before school started up again because I knew that it would get harder to get multiple good long runs in during the week

I run on rural roads. In the early morning dark, I wear a mesh vest with reflectors. When it's light enough to run safely without it, I stash it in the woods (15 min or so into my runs last week). I then pick it up and hang it on my water pack on the way home. I also wear a road ID on my shoe with emergency contact info. DH knows my general path and time frames. I tend to run against traffic and it's a busy day if a see 10 cars on my long runs.

pinbotchick

My heart is with you guys this week but my body has rebelled. This head cold has exhausted me. I tried a mile walk this morning and was almost shaking. Needless to say, I'm going back to bed and plan to rest. I didn't manage a single run this week (*pouts*). Next was to be a break with 3 runs of 5 miles. I'm going to trade that out for this week's schedule which should have been 2, 7, 10 mile runs. I'll really have to play it be ear and see how my body does.

lisajuly

ok, playing catch up here.

wednesday was speedwork and i think i got 5.78 miles done total.
thursday Back and Biceps X
Friday: Ran 5 miles @ 10:20 pace
saturday, walked 30 minutes, plus used the foam roller alot.

And today, ran 9.15 miles in 1:32

I'll be at the library on tuesday after my run so I can do a little more catching up.
Lisa

curlytop89

Wow, Lisa, great job on the running. What kind of cross training do you do? I am thinking about adding some Jillian michaels in this week for my strength/cardio. It is a good workout and I think she works about everymuscle I can think of. At least that's what my body tells me the next day, ha ha. I could really tell a difference in my muscle tone of my arms and legs when I was doing it regularly, but I haven't ventured back to that since my hernia surgery. I was instructed to save that for last, but I feel like I am ready. We will see.
Did 4.5 with some speed work over the the first three then finished with 1 1/2 at a 9:30 pace. Even got up to level 9, just for a minute ha! but at the beginning of the year i couldn't do that at all.

akasullengal

I'm still alive and training. I've been pretty consistent with it as well. Today was my longest run yet. I sort of overshot my goal by a wee bit, and ran 9.38 miles. I've been running through my neighborhood, which is pretty flat and looping it a couple of times, but today I decided to do a much larger loop of the southern part of town, which ended up being much hillier at points. So that, in combination of it being about 1.5 miles longer than my longest run, made for a bit of a tough go of it. I didn't walk, but thought about it at points, and the last 2 miles or so weren't fantastic and my form wasn't great. Definitely hit my limit for the time being. Plan to do the same route next weekend and hopefully it'll be better. I think about how far I've come, but today I really didn't feel like I could go any longer, and half is rapidly approaching (Oct 17), so makes me a bit worried. I think part of my problem is that I still run pretty slow, and it just takes SO long to get to those distances. If I ran faster, the amount of time it took me to run those 9ish miles, I could run almost the whole thing, and it wouldn't be so bad. But, I'll keep at it. I haven't officially registered yet, because I'm still wishy washy about my readiness, and I think the next couple of long runs will make the ultimate call. If I'm still struggling with those distances, I might have to reconsider, and continue training and getting faster and do a later half (I don't think there are much more here in MI... will probably have to wait until the spring). Yes, another Michigan runner in the group!

lisajuly

Wow, Lisa, great job on the running. What kind of cross training do you do?

I do a bit of walking for cardio cross training and occassionally get on my bicycle. I try to lift weights 2x a week and usually do a P90X workout (Chest and Back X, Back & Bi's X or Shoulders, Bi's and Tris X) or a combination of 2 P90X upper body workouts. I've been slacking on lower body weights just because i'm running so much right now, but I use my foam roller somewhat religiously and do a lot of physical therapy or Pilates exercises to help with my knee/hip issues which always pop up with more/faster miles. I also try to do yoga once a week, but have been known to blow it off, even when i shouldn't. I promise, i'm doing yoga today because my knee and hip talked to me quite a bit after yesterday's long run, lol.

lisajuly

I'm still alive and training. . I think part of my problem is that I still run pretty slow, and it just takes SO long to get to those distances. If I ran faster, the amount of time it took me to run those 9ish miles, I could run almost the whole thing, and it wouldn't be so bad. But, I'll keep at it. I haven't officially registered yet, because I'm still wishy washy about my readiness, and I think the next couple of long runs will make the ultimate call. If I'm still struggling with those distances, I might have to reconsider, and continue training and getting faster and do a later half (I don't think there are much more here in MI... will probably have to wait until the spring). Yes, another Michigan runner in the group!

Hi Kristina, good to see you. glad your running is going well. Ok, my advice. Register for the half. You will be able to do it. Even if your longest run before the half is 10 miles, come race day, adrenalin will carry you very far. And as far as running slow...so what? Yeah, I wish i could run seven minute miles but even if a bear is chasing me, that's not likely to happen. the whole point is that you are out there running and it doesn't matter how fast or how slow you run. I live in CO and a lot of top runners come here to train at altitude--less oxygen here, so then when they race at places that are at lower altitude, they are even faster because then their red blood cells benefit from the increase in oxygen. Anyway, my point of all the babbling is that I KNOW i will never win a race here and that's completely fine. the only person i compete against is myself. Think of all the people who never even attempt running a half. After all is said and done, everyone will be congratulating you on running a half, not putting you down because of how long it took you!

earthymom

Hi everyone,

My name is Justine and I live in Austin, TX. Although I've been running for about 10 years, a 10K is the longest run I've done. I decided today that I am going to train for a half marathon at the end of November. And I'm hoping to lose lots of weight while I do it! Just printed out a 10 week training plan and I'd love to get any advice or support I can from this group.

girlruns

Kristina--lisajuly is right. There is so much pulling you along on race day, you will finish! And even if you do have to walk (no shame!), you will be happier that you did the race instead of putting it off.

Earthymom--welcome! Get ready for an awesome experience! My suggestions, make sure you have good shoes, practice on the surface you will be racing on, experiement and perfect clothing/fuel/hydration. And most importantly--have fun!

Last week ended on a crappy note with me not doing anything over the weekend. I'm back though this week! I did 100 total minutes of walking yesterday (a normal rest day, but since I rested over the weekend...). Today I did an easy 5 in 48:25. Tomorrow is crosstraining (Curlytop, I'm doing Jillian right now for my cross training so I support that!).

Keep up the good work everyone!

lisajuly

Wow, I'm posting 2 days in a row from the library, lol.

5.04 miles at 10:10/mi pace. Kind of relieved because my knee and hip were bothering me after Sunday's long run. I wore my pat strap today and planned on only running 3.5-4 miles, but everything felt good, so i kept going. I actually was running much faster than i thought I was (or even planned to run). I think i'm going to skip speedwork tomorrow and either take the day off, or do a slow 4-5 mile run. Too close to the half to hurt myself now, or hurt myself to the point of not being able to run. Lots of stretching later/tonight.

Justine, welcome! Glad you joined us here. Just so you know, I never have much luck losing weight while trainng for a half marathon. I don't have a lot of weight to lose (less than 15. okay, ,maybe 20, lol) so that may play a part, but I find it hard to eat enough to fuel the miles I'm running and still lose a noticeable amount of weight.

Girlruns...nice pace yesterday! Great job.

earthymom

Thanks for the advice everyone! Glad to be in the group.

akasullengal

Did my first short run for the week: 5.09 miles at a 12:10 pace, which is pretty fast for me (i'm not a fast runner... and believe me, I've already improved a lot in time). More importantly, the legs felt good. I was a bit nervous as to how they would feel 2 days after doing the 9.4miler, but I think all the stretching at the walk I took yesterday really helped. Granted, we'll see how I feel in the morning, but the pace felt good, and was moving nicely, especially considering I had just gotten out of a 12-hour workday. Tomorrow the plan is crosstraining at the gym- probably the bike and then another 5 miler (might bump it up to 5.5) on Thursday.

curlytop89

I also have not had luck losing weight when running long distances, over 5 miles or so. I have lost some this time, but I am just now getting up over 5 or 6 miles. I am still watching what I eat most days though so I don't gain weight.

Lisa, I saw you had a watch on in one of your pictures, is that a GPS watch? I would love to have one, but they are expensive. But it would sure beat driving around trying to remember routes. Just wondering. If there is less expensive version, I would be interested. Anyhoo...

I did 4 miles yesterday, just around town with the baby stroller, so no huge hills or anything. I usually save those for my long run. I did spead work Sunday and rode my bike for an hour sat and I am feeling tired today, so I rested, and didn't eat well. Shame on me. Hopefully I will be able to make myself get up early in the a.m. before the kids and get on the elliptical, I have a busy day otherwise and I don't want to be tempted to skip. Well, good luck all. Marcie

pinbotchick

YEAH!!! I jogged 2 miles this morning at 13:22 pace on the treadmill. It felt so good to be able to jog and breath again!!!!

Welcome to the new people!! Great job to everyone that's running...

a1schwei

Marcie...i use mapmyrun.com to map out my runs before i go (or after sometimes)...it is free and easy you can create a login and save your runs in a training log and you can calculate your distance and miles per hour...not quite as fancy as a gps watch but it has helped me a lot in training
good job to everyone on the training...its crunch time for me and it is unfortunately a really busy time with the school year starting...iam trying hard to get the milage in that i need on my timetable without burning myself out...i think i'm ready for my run...i almost wish it was this weekend instead of next!