Two Days Til the Race

This afternoon I leave for Atlanta. And on Sunday I will run the half marathon. It will be my first race where I am by myself. I'm a bit nervous. Partially because I haven't been having great runs this week. I am blaming nerves though. Even though that is not good logic. :)

In the past few weeks I've had some great runs. I've been doing my long runs with some people from training, and while I can't seem to make it all the way to the finish with them (I start lagging behind right at the end) they have been helping me push my times.

I've also figured out how to run faster. Now, this is pretty silly - but here it is: You move your legs faster. So I've been picturing Fred Flintstone in my head and that seems to work as a mental picture. I've also been concentrating on lifting my knees more. When I do both I can run fairly easily at below a 9 min mile pace - now I just need to build up those muscles more so that I can do it for longer periods of time. The mix I end up doing in my long runs has me up just under 10 minute miles - which is still loads better than I've ever done in a race.

So I have high hopes for this race. Of being able to run the whole thing and run it well - without my body deciding to give out. I really like the energy in a race and I am counting on that pulling me through.

Keep me in mind on Sunday!

Atlanta here I come!

Another month gone by - another half marathon coming up. :) I signed up for the ING Half Marathon in Atlanta on March 25. Should be fun - though it won't be the race I was hoping for, since I haven't really been training as much as I should have been. I've run a total of 8 times since my last post. Not so good.

I did get sick in that time, and I went skiing in Colorado with Brant and his family, which was good fun, but will not help in my race preparations! Thankfully I have gotten back on track. This weekend I ran a good 5.5 miles at a reasonable pace, so I think I can at least build up my legs enough to run in three weeks without killing myself. It just might not be the PR I was hoping for.

Nevertheless, I will continue to train and run. Oh, and I did sign up for the Nike Women's Marathon in October - crazily enough - the half marathon is already sold out. It pretty much sold out during preregistration. So, maybe all the friends I was trying to talk into going won't be able to go now. Though Team in Training will still have spots of course!

Anyway, so things are still going, I am back into the running. Again. :)