Practice Run

After spending yesterday bulking up again on Vitamin C, Drew and I took the train out to New Jersey to spend the weekend at my dad's house. It was raining yesterday and when we woke up this morning, it looked wet outside, but we thought that it wasn't raining. We quickly had a protein bar, changed into running clothes and went downstairs to see what we thought about running outside. When we got downstairs it was easier to see that the rain was coming down sideways, but it didn't look like it was coming down all that hard - more like a heavy mist - so we decided to chance it.

I had used Gmap Pedometer to find a route the other day that was about 5.5 miles, but today we decided to cut that a little bit short since the weather was iffy. Instead we mapped out a run that was about 4 miles. We started out and the weather really wasn't all that bad once we got going. I figured that this was pretty good practice since it now seems quite likely that it'll be raining in Atlanta next Sunday for the half-marathon.

The thing about our run was that we weren't really 100% sure where we were going. We were supposed to run through a subdivision and it turns out that we ran through the wrong subdivision, so we didn't make it on our planned route exactly right. It didn't really matter since I was having a nice time running with Drew and looking at all the houses.

Except even though I was really glad that Drew was there, I always feel like such a slow-poke compared to him. Even though I know that he doesn't think this about me and I have no reason to think that it's rational, I sometimes think that when we run together he must wonder how I'll ever complete a half-marathon with my slow speed. It was kind-of depressing when I was thinking it while we were running, but it seems even more depressing when I actually write it down. Even if I am slow, I have no doubt that I will finish the half-marathon and Drew will be there cheering for me!

The running today went a bit better than it did on Friday morning. It was definitely still hard to breathe at times, but I ran through it. Because we realized that we ended up running through the wrong subdivision, we didn't do the route we had planned. I tried to figure out the route we did take, but I think it ended up being just about 4 miles even though we didn't do the planned route.

I think that we got our run in at just about the perfect time. On our way back to my dad's, it definitely started raining harder and the wind picked up (which made me feel like I was running in place, even though I kept moving my legs). On our way back to his house, Drew wanted to do some speed work, so I'd tell him when to go and when to stop (mainly from one mailbox or street sign to another). I decided to forgo the speed work and it ended up that we finished at just about the same time even though he did his sprints and I kept a steady pace.

I'm really glad that we got in this little practice run. I'm thinking that I'll try to do one more longer run before the half-marathon and then take it easy on the running for the rest of next week. Hopefully that'll be enough rest before the big day and my legs will be nice and happy! I'm currently trying to figure out what to wear. It's hard to remember what 60 degrees feels like!

Running
Time: 39:24
Distance: ~ 4.00 miles
Pace: 9:54
Calories: 504
Maximum HR: 189
Average HR: 175