I always thought that people who ran full marathons or any longer race distance were crazy. I also used to think that people who ran half marathons were crazy. To date, I have run 6 of them.
I like to do a of couple challenging races a year. More specifically, I like training for a couple challenging races a year. So, when the ground was covered with ice and snow and we were experiencing our fifth Polar Vortex, I was longingly looking ahead to the 2014 racing season. The thought of signing up for spring* and fall half marathons just wasn’t giving me butterflies the way it used to. Training for a 13.1 will always be a challenge physically but mentally, it just wasn’t doing it for me.
Michelle, the long distance lawyer, posted on Facebook that she had signed up for Wineglass Marathon after completing just one half. Pretty badass in my book. Then my BRF (best running friend) mentioned the Wineglass as a good option for a girls’ weekend away race. When two friends who do not know each other and live in different states mention the same marathon, something is afoot in the cosmos and you’d better pay attention. I signed up, booked a room and started to study training plans.
The race is the first Sunday in October and all of our husbands are going to crew for us and cheer us on.
We started week #4 this morning at 6 am with 6 miles as 3 x 1600 at a 10K pace less 35 seconds per mile, which was a 7:55 min/mile. Ok, so my last one was an 8:09 pace but I got it done. I am really liking this training plan but more on that in another post.
*I had a deferred registration to an April 6th half from a Fall half in a National Park near me that was rescheduled due to the government shutdown. Since it was already paid for, I trained for that, mostly on the treadmill. Me, Netflix, and the treadmill were quite the threesome this last winter.