16 Days Until the Newport Half!

Well, it is the end of the 10th week of my training routine for the half-marathon and I am pretty much on schedule. I've been following the Nike+ Coach program at about 85% which, to me, is respectable. There are a few days that I skip. But I make up for some of the distance by shuffling around the runs to fit my crazy work schedule. Since it is getting darker out, it is harder to run on days that I work 12-hour shifts. Dark when I wake up and dark when I get home. It is disappointing. I have to find a local gym around here soon. My outdoor running days are numbered. I am up to running close to 30 miles a week. The program suggests 2 longer runs per week. The other day I ran 7 miles and today I ran 12 miles. The days in between I do about 4 miles.

Running 12 miles was a great experience today. I am excited that I am getting that much closer to 13.1. Running this distance requires keeping properly fueled. As of a week ago, I am now the proud owner of a fuelbelt. Best running invention everrrr! I have a blue Helium 4-bottle belt. It has 4 8-oz bottles and a little pouch. I love it. It was definitely useful today. I was able to bring along a GU Energy Gel. That was perfect for about 45 minutes into the run.

The run started off a little rough. I waited until later in the day when it stopped raining so hard. It was a light drizzle but nothing too bad. I was all set to run, then realized I had left my iPod on overnight and the battery had drained. It was DEAD when I tried to run. I panicked, lol. I can't run without my tunes and running data! I immediately plugged it in to give it some juice. Then I thought I could use my phone... I got that all set up to run with since I have the Run Keeper app. But then I got nervous that it would die fast and I couldn't figure out the music (haha, it's a new phone... I'll get better at it). So I waited. I waited until my iPod was charged at 25%, strapped it on my arm, and ran out the door. I got halfway down my street when I realized that I should probably grab a hat. Just in case it started to rain more, the visor would sorta block it from my eyes... I had a flashback to the Blessing of the Fleet, when it was downpouring and it felt like my contacts were falling out.... I ran back to grab a hat, the one that I got from running in the St. Patty's Day 5k in Providence. That was a quick warm-up.

Then I was ready to party. Or so I thought. About a half mile in, I checked to see if my iPod was tracking my data right... Data. FAILURE. I had to stop to fix it because my iPod was under my shirt-sleeve (didn't want it to get too wet if it started to pour). Fixed. Ready. GO!

After that rough start, the run went really well. I planned out a 12 mile loop around "scenic" Palmer. It was a perfect mix of hills and flats. There are some scary parts where it crosses some busy roads but I try to do mostly back roads to avoid that. The problem with back roads is that there are barely any sidewalks and the shoulders are very narrow. Cars also fly down back roads so that can get dangerous as well. But at least there are less cars to worry about and I am usually very careful, especially around curves where I can't see oncoming cars.

Another thing I have to usually watch out for... dogs. People do not frigin leash their dogs here in Palmer. Most of them are friendly dogs and just want to run with me, but sometimes I get some mean looking dogs barking at me and look like they want to bite me.. One almost came at me during my 7 mile run the other day... then it stopped dead in it's tracks at the edge of the yard. Booyea invisible fence! BOOYEA! I was so happy, haha. A little pug dog came running full force towards me today. The family was outside and saw it happening. "Miley!... Miley! Get over here!" Haha. I stopped before the dog had a chance to barrel into my ankles. Played nice with it until one of the kids was able to grab it so it wouldn't bother me anymore. All I could think about when I continued running was "Why the hell would you name that dog after an awful teenage singer??" Poor dog.

There is not much that I think about when I'm running. When I do have thoughts, they are quite random. For the most part, the roads I run on are peaceful. My mind tends to clear, almost like meditation. It relaxes me... even though my body is working super hard, lol.

I had about a mile left when my iPod finally died. So Nike+ says I only ran 10.8 miles, but my body knows I did 12 and that's all that matters :-)

Overall the run went pretty well. I consumed all my nutrition from my fuelbelt. I had water in 2 bottles, water/gatorade mix in one, and then just a gatorade one. I had half my GU at 45 minutes then the rest when I had 3 miles left. That seemed to work well for me. I stayed hydrated and fueled, and I didn't even cramp this time! It was a success. I ran for just over 2 hours and averaged a 10:30 pace. I'm pretty happy about that.

Since March (when I bought my Nike+ sensor), I have run about 400 miles. About 140 of those miles have been since August 10th, in my new Nike+ Free shoes.. not so new anymore. I think I've decided to keep running in these straight through to the Half Marathon. I don't have enough time to break-in new shoes beforehand. I haven't even bought the other ones I wanted yet. I'm thinking of branching out from Nike and going with something else. Which would require me to go with a different form of data... quite possibly a Garmin GPS watch thingy. Danato has one. Those things are pretty f'in sweet.

Next Week ("Bring it Home"): 5 miles, rest day, 7 miles, 4 miles, 5 miles, 12 miles...