My First Half Marathon - And I did it !!

Author: Anu Karthik / Labels: , ,


Race planned: Race for the Roses
Gear: a supportive husband, 2 old nike shoes, ipod, water bottle, variety of t-shirts and tracks :)

Week 6
  • Remember to check the wind when you run, I had a bad run on Monday with the wind blowing on my face and it was hard to even do the 3 m which I did.
  • Was a bad week as far as runs, I was quite inconsistent. I was hoping the blog post would actually motivate me but ended up having the reverse effect.
  • I almost did not do my long run this week. Thanks to K I finally shoved my fat butt up and ran in the afternoon while the little one slept. I even encouraged K to catch up on some sleep :)  I ran, walked, ran and died running the 10 miles. The first few miles were good but the last few were very hard. Nothing helped, not the music or the lovely weather. Only the thought of coming to V drove me, but it is over and I am dreading the 12m next week. What was I thinking when I signed up for this?
  • The soreness all over on Sunday, I loved it!
  • Something I have realized from running the past few weeks, pick a path that has slopes, more downs than ups and you will gain your energy some every time you run down a slope. If you pick a straight path then you will feel tired as you just have to keep running and there is nothing you can use to leverage or gain momentum, contrary to my initial thought that flat areas would be better.
  • Week's tally:  17 miles
Week 7
  • Was a hard 4m on Monday, my legs hurt constantly and was feeling thirsty. My knees are still sore from the 10m on Saturday, maybe I am not cut out for this?
  • Did 6m on Wed, was long but good.
  • Walked 3.5m on Thursday. Was an idiot and left my WO clothes at home and could not teach my aerobics class.
  • Could not run any more this weekend, so very low mile count.
  • 3 more weeks to go and I better be ready!
  • Week's tally:  10 miles run + 3.5 m walk
Week 8
  • At this point, my energy and motivation level are quite low. Mainly because I think I am a little bit disappointed in not losing any weight or inches. It would definitely have been a nice side benefit :)
  • And I was getting bored of just running and running. I think I should have picked a trianing program where I would be doing other stuff also.
  • And to top it, this damn rain in Portland just won't stop. It is a getting a bit much where the last 10 days have been rainy and the next 10 too :) in fact there is forecast of rain on the half marathon day, sigh!
  • Week's tally: ~12 miles

Week 9
  • Energy level is high again as I am so close to finishing. I signed up for the half-marathon on March 31st.
  • I did a long run of 8m this week after 2 weeks of not doing it. I actually had a lot of energy and did not need a break almost till 5 miles.  Did not go further than 8m as I did not want to tire myself out the week before the big one.
  • Week's tally: 14-15 miles
Week 10
  • I was a nervous wreck this week mainly because I felt I had not trained enough. The longest I had run is 10m. That left me 3 miles short of the goal. That was a lot to put on race day running high. Suppose I felt too low and could not go beyond a certain point.
  • I decided worst was that I would walk.
  • Ran 3m on Monday, rested on Tuesday, 3m walk on Wednesday and Friday, and taught my aerobics class on Thursday.
  • Rested all day Saturday..ready to run at 7 am Sunday morning.
  • Week's tally: 9 miles

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Way to Go Anu...Very inspiring

Anu Karthik said...

thanks bhargavi. it was not easy but worth it :)

Post a Comment