Feb 3, 2020
Feb 15, 2019
Like last year, I trained pretty ambitiously for the half. I started January 2 and I hit my target this Monday Feb 3rd. It was still as hard as it was last year when I trained, I wish I could tell you it gets easier but long distance running is no joke. It takes a lot of patience, consistency and just being able to stick it through the whole thing. I can’t tell you how many times I was on the treadmill wanting to get off. But I knew that the sooner I got off, the longer it would take to get to where I wanted to be. I’m in no position to give up or quit. I already committed to this and I’m going to see it through.
Here are my training results from the past month:
Jan 2, 2020 - 10 km/6.2 miles 1:17:09 outside
Jan 4, 2020 - 7 km/4.3 miles 0:47:35 outside
Jan 7, 2020 - 13 km/8 miles 1:20:28 outside
Jan 15, 2020 15 km/9.3 miles 1:35:57 outside
Jan 18, 2020 - 8.11 km/5 miles 01:00:00 treadmill
Jan 19, 2020 - 5.25 km/3.2 miles 00:32:00 treadmill
Jan 20, 2020 - 5.45 km/3.3 miles 00:35:00 treadmill
Jan 21, 2020 - 7.24 km/4.5 miles 00:49:00 treadmill
Jan 22, 2020 - 10.1 km/6.2 miles 01:00:00 treadmill
Jan 23, 2020 - 5.4 km/3.3 miles 00:33:00 treadmill
Jan 24, 2020 - 18 km/11.2 miles 2:06:38 outside
Jan 26, 2020 - 10 km/6.2 miles 1:25:34 walking outside
Jan 27, 2020 - 5 km/3.1 miles 00:31:13 outside
Jan 28, 2020 - 5 km/3.1 miles 00:32:51 outside
Jan 29, 2020 - 8.25 km/5.1 miles 1:00:00 treadmill
Jan 30, 2020 - 9 km/5.6 miles 01:05:00 treadmill
Jan 31, 2020 - 10 km/6.2 miles 00:58:31 outside
Feb 1, 2020 - 6.75 km/4.2 miles 00:45:00 treadmill
Feb 2, 2020 - 8.0 km/4.9 miles 00:54:00 treadmill
Feb 3, 2020 - 21.1 km/13.1 miles 02:18:21 outside
The first two weeks, I started out doing long runs and resting 2-3 days in between, and adding 2-3 km onto each long run. My legs were sore after every run so I was giving myself some time to recover. But halfway through, I changed strategies. I wanted to condition my legs to get used to this since I was going to have to do 3 races back to back, 3 days in a row. I wasn’t going to have the luxury of that much time to recover between each one.
So I started incorporating shorter runs but with warmup walks before and cooldown walks after. It actually started making a difference. My legs were not as sore anymore. I changed my long run to once a week instead of every few days. I met my goal sooner than anticipated and knocked out a trial half marathon run this past Monday. And I did it with running pretty much every day since I switched gears on the 18th. I feel more confident now being able to take on 3 races back to back. I looked up my training results from last year when I completed my training and I’m really proud of my results. I finished my training last year a week and a half before the actual race. It took me 2 hours and 29 min to run 20 km around my neighborhood. I didn’t run the whole 21.1 km, figuring that I would leave the full thing for the actual race. This year, I finished training 3 weeks before the race date and I ran an entire 21.1 km in 2 hours and 18 min. I’m really hoping to improve my time from last year’s race too when I go, although I won’t be too disappointed if I don’t make it. I know it’s definitely going to be harder with different race conditions (temperature, time of day starting and energy levels from being up the day before to play in the parks) but I really hope I beat it. My net time at last year’s race was officially 2:47:01 as clocked by runDisney. I missed the qualifying time by 2 minutes! This year I’m really hoping to make the qualifying time and finish this thing in under 2:45:00. I can’t wait to bring home all 4 medals! (You get a medal for each race - 5k, 10k and the half. And then you get a 4th one called the “challenge” medal for completing the Fairy Tale challenge, which is completing the 10k and the half marathon back to back.) Originally I should’ve just signed up to do the challenge but I was greedy and cocky and decided to just go for all 3 races to bring it all home.
Currently I weigh in at 111.2 lbs. Last year I weighed in at 107 lbs but I still have 2 weeks to go so I’m not mad. I don’t think I’ll lose 5 extra pounds in the last two weeks I have left, especially when I have to start carb loading the week I leave. But my photos from last year and this year look nearly identical in my training results so I’m not going to beat myself up over it. I know I definitely have gained more muscle weight in the past year so I know the percentages of fat to muscle weight have definitely shifted to reflect that on the scale. Now to keep this up for the next 2 weeks before I leave. I’m still going to continue lifting 3-5x a week and keep up with my daily runs. Although, let me tell you! I can’t wait til the week of the race when I can officially start carb loading, hahaha!