Week 10 of 16 for 1/2 marathon training

It is week 10 of my 1/2 marathon training. 6 more weeks to go until the big day. It is great to finally be running outside. I need to be outside getting used to the elements - namely the damn wind. The only wind you get on the dreadmill is from the itsy, bitsy, teenie, tiny fan (tribute to Roseanne Roseanna Danna) and that ain't much.

Last Saturday Collin and I took off for a 7 and 10 mile run (I had 7 miles). He was kind enough to run the first 7 miles with me because he knew it would be a killer for me. The first 4 miles went great, mile 5 was okay, 6 and 7 pretty much sucked big time. There are a lot of hills on our route and with each one we were running into the wind. Damn wind... hmpf. After mile 5 I told Collin to go on without me that I would be okay, but he would not do it. Somewhere between mile 5 and 6 we were running up a hill - did I mention into the wind?... I had my head down because if I looked to the top of the hill I was going to die. My head is down and I am telling myself to suck it up and get up the hill all the while thinking I was running as fast I could ... I happened to look over at Collin.... ready for this?.... he was walking beside me... yes walking. In my mind I was running but it was so slow that he could not even run that slow so he had to walk. I had to laugh, what else was there to do? I still laugh when I think about it. Finally, he decided he just needed to run in front of me and wait for me at the top of the hills - thank God.

Finished that painful run in just under 12 minutes and it was great and humbling at the same time to run outside. I have decided that the dreadmill is so much easier because you don't have hills (unless you want them) or wind to hold you back. But I will take the outdoors anyday.

15 miles for the week and a day to rest.

Week 10 started on Monday and I had an easy run of 2 miles. It went great as I had recovered from my run from Saturday. 2 miles in 22 minutes - 11 minute miles.

Today was another 7 mile day but I would be doing this one alone. I went out in the morning because the wind was only whipping at 6 mph and there was a threat of rain for the afternoon and I did not want to end up on the dreadmill. I was worried about being beat mentally but it actually went better than expected. I only had to run up 2 hills with the wind in my face - bonus compared to last Saturday. I also took Collin's advice and had better nutrition before and during my run. Ate a strawberry-bananna gel before the run, plenty of fluids the first 3 miles, a couple of orange shot blocs in between mile 3 and 4 and apple pie gel at mile 5.5 plus fluids. This helped a lot. Finished 7 miles today in 1 hour 20 minutes for an avg of 11:29 minute miles - I cut off some time from last Saturdays run so I was happy.

I also bought a new pair of superfeet inserts over the weekend. For the last 2 weeks my arches had been hurting me again and I was worried my plantar fasciitis was coming back. My arches hurt so bad during my run Saturday that I was afraid that I had done it again. I ran Monday and today with my new inserts and am happy to say I am pain free again.

Superfeet are worth every penny.. I swear by them. If you have any problems with your arches, especially plantar fasciitis, these will help you. They are way cheaper than orthotics from a podiatrist.

So, that is it for my training reports for week 9 and week 10. My long run on Saturday is 8 miles and hopefully the weather will hold out and I can be outside again.