Less than 3 weeks to go

First the great news. I exceeded my fund raising goal for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training! Thank you to all of my friends and family for your support. Now I can focus on just running and finishing the race. No matter how long it takes me, my time is still a PR. 🙂

I can’t believe that the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon is in less than 3 weeks. Lately, there has been lots to do both personally and professionally. Work is busy and in this economy that’s a good thing. No worries…it just means time management a huge priority. I’ve rearranged my schedule and re-prioritized some things to make it work. Plus it’s been raining for the last four or five days, which makes training outside problematic. Again, not a big deal. I’ve been going to the gym to run on the treadmill. I’m not afraid of getting wet, but the last time I ran in bad weather I got sick for a month.

I’ve really been focusing on form and endurance, and doing lots of exercises to strengthen my core, glutes, and adductors. Now that the race is looming, I’m more focused on form, getting stronger, and finishing the race. I know I’m not yet strong enough to run the entire 13.1 miles or even 3/4 of it like I’ve been doing in other races. When I get tired I throw my left foot and it’s causing the muscles in my leg to overwork. Instead I’m going to use Jeff Galloway’s run/walk/run method. I’ll run 2 minutes and walk for 1 minute, then repeat the sequence until I’m done. I used this approach on Sunday on the treadmill and finished with an average pace of less than 13 minutes per mile for 5 miles (my best pace for that distance since October 2010). The best part is my legs were still fresh after 5 miles and I had no hip pain at the end of the run!

So after this last workout, my confidence level really improved. My plan is to run more times during the week to up my mileage and log time on my feet. I still haven’t run 13 miles yet,but I’ve run 10 before. I’m strong and committed so I know I’ll finish.

After the half, my trainer, Sedric Otuya and I are going to shorten the distances and work on speed and endurance. That way I’ll beat my PR for my next half. When is that? With me you never know. I’m only registered for the MCM10K this fall…so far.