Half Marathon Training Week 5

Week 5 is now in the books! Despite everything the world and the weather threw at me, I made it!

Last week, if you recall, I had a kind of tough long run. Mentally I was done, and it was taking a toll on me.

But also, if you recall, I PR-ed in Saturday's park run last week. So clearly I had a fire lit under me that my mind just didn't want to deal with.

(Don't let your head give up before your legs give out)

(Pic taken in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico)

I've learned recently that running is a mental game. It's easy to make excuses as to why something didn't go as planned. 

But most of the time it's your mind and that tired voice in the back of your head saying how much easier it would be if you just stopped or slowed down.

Maybe my crappy 7 mile run would have been better if I didn't keep complaining about it in my head. Because at the end of the day, I finished those 7 miles. That's 7 more miles than I was running a few years ago. It's 7 more miles than a lot of people ran that day. And it's 7 more miles of preparation for the half marathon.

So from now on I'm going to try to be more positive! It can't hurt!

Anyways, time to run off all that pumpkin pie I've been eating.......

...and when I say "run off" I really mean "go run and then eat more pumpkin pie"

Side note: This is the first week where I've felt really achy and sore from training. Maybe it was that 7 miler last week. But I'll tell ya, I feel it! 

Monday - LRR group run. I loved every bit of this run, but sadly my stomach did not (TMI?) Seriously, it was really great and I wish I could have done better. We just did a long, consistently paced run (which are my favorite) around the park. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of eating a whole bunch of olives before I went to meet up for the group run. OLIVES?! WTF was I thinking eating olives!!? I pushed through the pains until the last ten minutes and finally decided to walk. It was frustrating, but I felt infinitely better once I stopped jumbling up my stomach even more.

Tuesday - OFF

Wednesday - 4 miles through the rain, mud, and puddles! Other than that, a very good run!

Thursday - 5 incredibly windy miles

Friday - OFF

Saturday - 5 miles (technically just a bit over actually). I did one mile before the park run 5K and one mile after.

During the park run, I was trying to focus on my mentality. Not my pace, not everyone around me, not how ridiculously rainy it was, but my own thoughts.

Here is my thought process throughout the whole 5K:

"Okay, you can do this, Tay. No negative thoughts like last week. You PRed last week and you were a negative ass so just imagine what you can do if you really stay positive. Keep up with these people now and when we get to your little Florida Girl Hills we will slow down and reassess how you feel. 

Just get to the hills. The hills are not your enemy anymore. Don't even call them hills. Call them ant piles. Yes, stupid little ant piles. Think of how hard these hills were a few weeks ago. Now you do them in your sleep. 

Wow it's really raining hard. Rain is good. Oh, I'm over the hills! I mean ant piles. That wasn't so bad! 

Keep it going. There go the fast runners. They're almost done and I'm just getting halfway. No, no negative thoughts. You are a rock star. Oh crap, the fast runners are splashing mud on me. Where did they get all that mud from?? Oh well. Positive thoughts. Thanks so much for the mud; it goes great with my sweat! Goodbye fast runners, I have another loop to do. 

Focus. You're over halfway done. And don't forget, you ran a mile before the park run. You can still do this. Oh here's the mud. There is SO MUCH mud. Ohmigod this sucks. 

Okay no more mud. Back to focusing. When you get back to that road, think about how you want to finish the race. DAMNIT MUD! THIS IS WORSE THAN THE LAST BIT OF MUD!! MY SHOES ARE GETTING STUCK!!! Ew. Ew. Ew. Stop saying ew, Taylor, you're acting like a wuss. 

Okay back on the road with no mud. Right, there's the 4K sign. Less than a mile to go. You're nearly there! Yayyyy! You're doing great. You ran a mile, you're nearly done with 5K, and you have to run another mile when this is over so don't exert all your energy. 

Just keep this up. 2010 Taylor would have passed out 3.75 miles ago. 2012 Taylor can do this! And likes it! No no, you LOVE it! If you didn't like endurance you would have taken up tiddly winks instead. 

Okay, when you turn this corner, you'll see the finish. If you don't start sprinting when you see the finish.... Wait that sounds harsh. Okay, if you'd like to sprint to the finish, that's great! But you've done fantastic today! So if this pace is what you wanna do, do it! Nearly there! Mmm, more mud with a side of mud, andddd I'm done!"

Hilariously, I completed the park run in 31:32, which is my exact time of last week's park run! I was initially disappointed (seriously, I couldn't have run one second faster?!) but then I thought how much better this week felt. It felt more natural this week and I definitely wasn't as winded when I was done. So I'm going to count this week as a personal win!

Sunday -OFF

Side note, if you follow me on Twitter you know I got a case of the crazies Saturday night. I promise I only get like that once a year. FSU vs. UF game. And I'm not happy about the result.

Garnet and Gold forever!

 Hope you all had a great weekend!! 

Runners - What are you currently training for?? Certain race? Certain pace? Do you tend to like it better when you've got a goal in mind?
Non-Runners - What motivates you to reach your goals? Rewards? Self-fulfillment?