Most people don't exactly forget when they have a half marathon coming up... the same could not be said for me as it really just occurred to me last week that I would be doing one on the 20th. This Saturday. The really fun part is, the most I've run at one time in the last, mmmm... 6 months or so, is probably about 6.5 miles. Yeah... This should be interesting.
This will be my mom's second half marathon, and my... yeah right, like I remember what number this is. And really, timing-wise it's perfect because I'm right at the beginning of my base training for Worlds, and this will be the Winter of the Half Marathon (as I have named it in my head), where I will do, it seems like, at least one a month in order to build the strength I need as a foundation for the speed work I'll be doing come next summer. As aforementioned, my only (mild) concern is that I haven't been doing the "traditional" half marathon training by any stretch of the imagination. Of course, I can't be too worried - this won't be the first time my Playtri coach has put me in a half marathon with only a fraction of the running time that most folks would consider an appropriate amount of training for the event. At the Seabrook Lucky Trail Half last March, I hadn't even run a full hour in the three months before the event, and I crossed the finish with a smile on my face, and was recovered within two days of the event. I have to say, I do love a coaching system that allows me to be a fabulous runner without actually... well... running. Obviously I do run, just not as much as one might think. When I think about it, I've actually run more in preparation for this half than the last one (not counting the one at the end of the Lonestar 70.3). So I should be feeling pretty comfortable about this weekend.
But onto blogging about things that have already happened - Ken and I relayed the Bronda's Du yesterday morning at the Texas Motor Speedway, and it was a blast. Granted that it was freezing outside and it took Ken 20 minutes to wake me up and make me realize that, oh yeah, we had a race that morning. We'd spent the previous evening in Fort Worth with Aaron P. at the Flying Saucer, with me trying quite a few selections from the menu, then sobering up with black coffee at Barnes and Noble down the road before we headed home. We got to bed around midnight, and had the alarm set for 6:00 the next morning. Yeah... so obviously that was going to be a challenge. But we got there just in time, only to realize that I had a flat tire, which I quickly changed, then realized it was completely impossible for me to put the wheel back on the bike!! After much laughing, Ken stepped in and saved the day, and we got our packets (oh, yes, we missed packet pick-up the day before, which we all know Jack and Ester love) and got our transition set up, then we hung out in the cold for an hour waiting for things to get going. Ken had an incredibly fast first run leg, I was blown away when I saw him coming into transition right behind some of the fastest guys. What a stud! My bike was about what I expected it to be - 19 mph - considering I haven't been doing any speedwork recently, just hills and training pace rides. My hamstrings were shot afterwards, not having had a chance to warm up, but no after-effects today so all's well that ends well. The UNT Triathletes took first place in the collegiate team competition, making me an extremely proud coach, and all of my youth athletes, past and present, who competed did extremely well. It was so fun seeing all of them in one place, and having Ken get to see that part of my life (after all, it's a pretty big part).
Post-race we hit Le Peep for breakfast - belgian waffles for me, omelet for Ken - and then it was nap-time, chore-time, work-time... the usual Sunday.
Scheduled training is pretty sparse this week, since the half will constitute a lot of my workload. I'll be taking it pretty easy. I leave for Galveston on Thursday night, and will return Monday morning. But I'm sure there will be more updates before then...
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