Half-Marathon Prep Time

The idea of running a half marathon this weekend without racking up some weekday mileage scares me a little, so I decided to go for an easy three-mile run yesterday with my running group despite still not feeling 100%. Usually, I try to run that short of a distance at a sub-9:00 min/mile pace, but last night I kept the pace at something closer to a 10:30 min/mile. Although I was worried about doing too much too soon after being so ill, I actually felt energetic and strong during my run. A running buddy of mine kept an interesting conversation going, which was a good distraction as well.

During this last year, I have aimed to run a half marathon or similar distance about every other month. The most recent half I ran was in September, followed by a 15K trail race through Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, WA last month. I never thought I would enjoy running 10+ miles through rocky paths, mud, and intense hills, but the views make trail racing worth every rolled ankle and mud-ruined sock.

This stump seems to be having a volcanic
identity crisis.

View from Point Defiance

This weekend's half marathon is a very small, informal race, and I am planning to run it at an easy pace as prep for the Tucson Half Marathon in a few weeks. With any luck, maybe I will PR that race. Or maybe I won't. I'm not a very competitive runner; my goal is always to simply finish strong. Side note: I'm not sure when traveling to attend a race became a thing for me, but this is the second time this year that I have ventured out of Washington to take off at some starting line and hurl one foot in front of the other until I pass through the finish line.

Due to this darn sinus infection that has been going on for almost two weeks, I had to back off on my weekly mileage. This concerns me a little because I have found that keeping up with a decent number of miles in the few weeks leading up to a long race is essential for me to feel strong and avoid injury. I have not yet run two half marathons within three weeks of each other, so I hope that I will feel back to normal and can run a strong 13.1 miles in Tucson without feeling too fatigued.

In the meantime, a friend of mine is attempting to coerce me into running an ultra next year. She will be my running buddy for this weekend's half marathon, which is predicted to happen right in the middle of a cold torrential downpour. As much as I hate admitting this to myself, I'm intrigued and know that there's a good chance I'll be too high on adrenaline and endorphins to say no. If I decide to go for it, this blog is about to get a lot whinier. Or maybe not. Maybe I'll just prove to myself what a badass I am really capable of being.