Half Marathon Madness!!!

Well its been a while since the half and im happy to say that the pain did not lead me to hate running and everything associated with it.  BUT ITS SPRINGTIME!!!!!  Which means the beginning of mountain bike season.  I’ve been spending some time helping set up a sweet new course in the Lebanon bike course.  Though I wont compare going through this course to running a half, the workout is pretty intense with some log step up ladders, bridges and jumps, not to mention some intense climbs and steep drops.  If I do decide to do another half marathon I need to get under 2 hours.  In the end I would like to do a 4 hour marathon but I do not see myself doing that in the near future.  Right now I’m excited to enter and try to get in the Mount Marathon run in Alaska where I will be staying this summer.  The run is only 1.5 miles up and the same back down but I guess its really fun and tiring since you’r racing up a mountain and trying not to crash on your way back down.

So I ran my half and was suprised that I didn’t run out of breath.  Instead it was the muscle pain that was the difficult part.  I had a lot of fun but felt a little out of place in the runners tent.  Me being in my blue basketball shorts and a plain whit t-shirt, being surrounded by people in tight running outfits and thier native college’s track apparel.  All of that aside I ran and was happy with my finishing time. No first however.  The first place finishers completed in like one hour and five minutes.  I cant even run one mile as fast as thier pace for 13 is.  anyways I copied my results from the site and decided to post them.

In two days at this time I will have taken my first steps into the madness that is my half marathon.  I watched a NOVA special on marathon running and was a little disheartened when watching “the wall” segment.  Basically it was a compilation of people collapsing throughout different marathons.  Then again however, I am not running a marathon, only a half.  Training has been light this week for fear of a random injury crushing my half marathon dreams.  I ran a 35 min. four mile and didn’t get out of breath so I figure I’m as ready as I’m gonna be.  My plans for the rest of the week are some push ups, sit ups, and maybe a roller blading excursion in an area with minimal hills.  A clip was sent to me showing a 101 year old man competing in London’s marathon and figured if he can why can’t I, minus 13 miles.  My nutrition before the race is now my primary concern, I figure I’ll take something like a bar with me but before the race I am still skeptical of.  Lots of hydration this week and like I said, minimal injury causing activities.  No blisters for this runner before the race, now all thats left is to go in and take first!!!  Or at least try to take first and be glad I finished, hopefully in the top 10-15.  I will report back at the conclusion of my race and post a pic of me with the GOLD.

With less than a week to go before my half I have been rocking the runs I go on.  I visited Eagan which was not devistated by winter storms in April so I was able to run a good amount.  My runs were around 6-7 miles with a few gigantic hills.  I also got to bust out my rollerblades and do the same runs but with wheels.  Not being an avid rollerblader (I’ve gone about eight times) I had a series of small heart attacks as I went careening off the path and into the woods after these large hills.  Since it has been warming up my activity level has also increased.  If I don’t go running I play football, or soccer outside.  And if being outdoors isn’t in the forecast I usually do a series of pushups and sit-ups that I got online.  It goes as follows.

 10 shoulder length pushups

10 sit-ups

10 wide pushups

10 situps

10 triangle pushups

15/15 side to side sit ups

you are supposed to repeat this cycle ten times without stopping but that won’t be happening in the near future.  I can do about five or six cycles before collapsing and watching TV.

This will be my first post…FINALLY!!  Just because I haven’t been writing doesn’t mean i haven’t been running though.  My half marathon is on the 19th of April in St. Cloud so I have been busy jogging, and working out.  My weeks have been a slow and steady progression of distance with some hill training.  I was informed of the route my half will take place and learned that there will be three hills in the course.  So far I have been running in tennis shoes which left my feet and ankles not feeling the best after runs.  This weekend however I bought a new pair of running shoes and am excited to break them in before the big race!

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