Half Training - Week 3

When you've been running 3 or 4 days a week for years, you get to know your body. What foods to eat before a run and what to stay away from, what temperatures you work best in, and the time of day that is favorable.

So heading into my third week of training for the Gasparilla half-marathon this coming February, I knew what to expect: Saturday mornings running with my dad in his neighborhood and chatting (okay, so it maybe more me talking and him listening, but it helps the miles go by) and early mornings before work on a treadmill at the gym.

Not this week. It was like I had never run before. Monday morning's run was skipped in favor of extra sleep. My Wednesday morning run was accompanied by an angry stomach that was queasy and led to 5 struggling miles. Friday was my saving grace as I managed to get myself out of bed and pound out 5 non-miserable miles. But Saturday's 6.5 miles shown on my watch above? If my dad hadn't been struggling alongside me, I would have asked him to carry me back to the house. It was physically and emotionally draining and was one of those "what have I gotten myself into" days.

But this is why you start training in September for a race in February. With 19 weeks to go before race day, I've got 19 more weeks to hash it out on the pavement and get my running to where I know it needs to be and can be. So week three sucked. Week four can only get better.