Half Marathon Training - Weeks 11 and 12

I didn't update last week, because I didn't run. On Sunday evening, we went out for chinese food. On Monday at lunch time, I ate the leftovers. On Monday at 4pm, I was suffering from the worst bout of food poisoning I've ever experienced. By tuesday morning, the digestive part was better (manageable), but I was feverish and exhausted. I slept all day, wrapped in a blanket on the couch by the fire. Wednesday and Thursday I still couldn't bring myself to eat much. After that, I basically gave up for the rest of the week.

Which brings me to Week 12. On Monday, I went out for a 6k run. It was the best run I'd had in months. Warm, not overly windy, not wet or muddy (or snowy!). I started out with one pair of tights, a long sleeved shirt, and my jacket. After the first 2.5k, I took my jacket off, shoved it in my mailbox, and finished my run. I felt so free with no bulky layers!

On Wednesday, I went for a short 3k. It was SO windy that day! I had to run really hard but still felt like I wasn't moving.

On Thursday after work/school, we drove to my mom's in Nova Scotia. I had my long run planned for friday morning, and had a route all figured out. I was REALLY looking forward to the run. I slept in my running tights so I'd be ready in the morning. I woke up early on friday morning, and had some of my mom's muffins for breakfast. My route too me down mom's road, and then along the Lahave River to Bridgewater. I wanted to run across the train bridge, and then run up oward my old high school as far as possible.

It was a bit colder that I anticipated, and my thighs and butt were frozen by the time I made it to the end of the road. Fun Fact: It is exactly 1 km from my mom's to Mo's store. I loved running along the river. My Garmin stopped tracking at once point because I went down a path to a little park right on the riverbank. I didn't notice at the time. Oh well.

It didn't seem to take very long to get to the mall, and I was feeling really good. I texted my friend Pat because I'd be running past his house, and I wasn't sure what side of the road the sidewalk was on. I waved as I went by on my way to the train bridge.

 

I stopped when I got across because I felt a blister developing on my toe. I put a bandaid on, and kept running. I made it to my High School in about 45 minutes. Fun Fact: My bus ride to school took 45 minutes. I'd be an awesome runner by now if I had just skipped the bus to run to school everyday! I kept going and stopped when I unexpectedly ran out of sidewalk. I crossed the road to watch and listen to the rapids. I'd never seen them from that vantage point before. It's funny how I never appreciated it until I moved away!

When I reached the school again, I noticed that my Garmin stopped tracking. I stopped it, and restarted it, but I had no idea how long it had been or how far I had gone. So, to play it safe, and to make up for the distance I lost from my planned route when the sidewalk ended, I ran up river a bit when I got back across the train bridge.

 

I don't remember ever being on that part of the trail or that far up river on that side before. The river was high, and loud. The trees along the bank were flooded. The traffic on the overpass was loud too. For some reason, being under an overpass always freaks me out, but I stopped long enough to get a photo of the graffiti.



I was starting to get a bit tired by this point. My thighs were sore and tired. I started taking more walk breaks (other than for photo ops!). I texted Red Fox and facebooked my mom to let them know where I was and when I expeced to be home. I kept on keeping on, and when I passed the mall, I thought, ok, I'm almost-almost there (and also, where did hat WIND come from?!). With about 3 or 4 km to go, I thought... "oh... this is the wall". And then my dad called! I chatted with him for a few minutes, and that helped me recoup. When I got to Mo's I knew I only had 1km to go! My legs were exhausted when I got to Mom's but I felt great, and really enjoyed the whole run. I'm unsure of my actual distance, but I think it was about 18km. My pace was about 6:35/km, which I feel ok about.

Sometimes, a change of scenery is a wonderful thing!