5 weeks to go and counting....

With such little time before the scheduled half-marathon race, I knew that this week was going to be very telling.  Either the pain would come back in my foot and I would know that I should give up my race spot to someone that could actually finish the race or my foot would continue to be okay and I could then be able to judge where I was in relation to being ready for 21.1k.

I decided to try to get three runs in this week, an easy 6k, a more challenging 8k, and then a 12k long run.  Monday I went out at lunch to run 6k.  It was beautiful and sunny; first run this year in a tank top.  My foot did not hurt but my calves and hamstrings were super tight.  

The 8k on thursday was much the same except it was t-shirt weather instead of tank top.  Calves and hamstrings were super tight again.  I stopped to stretch at about the 4k mark and walked for a bit.  It was very windy too.  One stretch of road that I took was not runner friendly; the kind of road where you are either on the road, on someone's lawn, or in the ditch.  The road was busy to so I spent a lot of time just trying to not get run over or to not land in the water lying in the ditch.  I won't be taking that route again.

I decided my long run would be on Sunday.  Ate my breakfast, stretched, and mapped a 15k route.  I was initially only going to try a 12k but thought, I will walk/run and get to the 15k mark.  It would be a tiny accomplishment that would boost my confidence.

The first 6k were tough, hamstrings and calves were tight again.  I stopped at the 3.5k mark and the 5.5k mark to stretch and walk.  Then, my body was finally warmed up and I completed the remaining 9k without stopping.  I felt great about this run and the awesome part is, I felt like I could have kept going.  I ran (some walking) 15k in 1h:38m:29s; great accomplishment for me due to the fact that I've only ran 3 times in the last 10 weeks.

I now know that I can complete this half-marathon on May 27.  Sure, my training was and is not ideal and that my goal of completing the race in under 2h:15m might not be attainable.  However, I know that my body is strong enough to complete the distance and for that I am thankful.

For the upcoming week, I am going to do the same thing, two easy runs and a long run.  I want to focus on taking the time to warm up and stretch correctly.  If I could get rid of some muscle tightness, my runs would be a lot more enjoyable.   




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