Thursday

2 miles, 1:2 minute run/walk ratio, 35:19 minutes

I was a bit slow today—I didn't sleep well last night, and my stomach was a bit off—but less than a minute slower than Tuesday's run, so I guess I wasn't that slow.

Still getting up at 7 am-ish. It was hard today, but I was out of bed by 7:10 and out running by 8:20.

I'm vacillating these days between "Yay! I'm going to do a half-marathon and Long Beach will be so much fun!" and "Blah, I'm tired, I don't want to do this, and Long Beach is going to be way too expensive." It's hard to keep going. I really lost a lot of momentum while I was sick. Plus, the person I thought might come to Long Beach with me (and share hotel expenses, which would really be a help financially) is almost certainly not coming. I wish I could bring my mom with me—I know she'd enjoy it. But then I'd have to find someone else to take care of the cats and fish while we're gone. Hm.

Tuesday

2 miles, 1:2 minute run/walk ratio, 34:41 minutes

I did the run down the road and back today, so I wouldn't have to hurdle the trench, and also because I think the mile uphill is good for my training, even though it's hard! I tried the 1:2 minute run/walk ratio and I think I like it better than 2:3. I don't know if it makes my time any faster, but it doesn't make it any slower, and it's more comfortable doing 1 minute run intervals.

Week 6: Six miles

1:41 hours, 1:2 minute run/walk ratio

I didn't know whether to count the weeks I didn't run, or just start up again with this week, but I decided to skip them. My last long run was Week 5, so this is Week 6, just about a month later.

I did the same route as last time, down Dennison to Valley, Valley to Curry, Curry to Highline, and back. It went pretty well. The 1:2 minute ratio seemed to work well, it's easier to only run one minute at a time, and two minutes is enough to recuperate. Despite missing so many weeks of training, my time for the six miles didn't slow down any. So it looks like I'm back in business!

I set the alarm to get up at 7 am, so I could get started by 8:15-ish. It still got pretty hot by the time I was done, but I didn't have any trouble with the early start. When my runs get up more than three hours, I'll probably get up at 6 am to get started even earlier.

Thursday

19 laps, 1:1 lap run/walk ratio, 34:09 minutes

I slept in till 8:30 am this morning, and had a hard time getting going, but I did my Thursday run, and I'm back on track (so far!) to continue training for Long Beach. It was a bit of a slow run, I just didn't have any energy today. But I did it, which is all that really matters.

I'm going to do six miles on Saturday and continue on from there. That will still get me to 14 miles before the half-marathon. I think I'll try doing a 1:2 minute run/walk ratio instead of the 2:3, and see how I like it. It's a bit less running than 2:3, and only one minute at a time. It might be easier to keep up for the longer runs than 2:3. I'm going to repeat my six-mile run of four weeks ago, and see how my time compares.

Tuesday

19 laps, 1:1 lap run/walk ratio, 32:10 minutes

Skipped another week... last Thursday, I got up late and was just too tired, Saturday I just blew it off. I almost didn't run today, either, but I finally kicked myself out the door at 9 am and actually had a really good run—16 minute miles, kept my running laps under 1:30 and my walking laps under 2 minutes the whole way.

The hardest part about getting back into running is that my sleep/wake schedule has slipped back an hour while I wasn't doing anything. If I'm going to run on Tuesday mornings, I need to get up by 7 am. This morning, I didn't get up until after 7:30, and it's going to be tight getting ready for work on time. But now that I'm finally off the antibiotics, I hope I'll get some of my energy back.

I've had thoughts of bagging Long Beach this year... but there's still time to get back on track. I'll keep going for the time being and see how it goes.

Tuesday

19 laps, 1:1 lap run/walk ratio, about 33 minutes

So. It's been two weeks since I've run. I got cellulitis in my left leg and was too sick to run, but I've been on heavy antibiotics for a week (and will stay on them for another week), and am finally getting better. So I went out today for two miles around the house—I didn't want to stray too far from home, in case my leg started to hurt, but it was fine and I had a good run. I'm not sure about the total time—I missed a split somewhere along the line, and was trying to figure it out, and ended up stopping my watch for maybe 20 seconds. But it was a good run, anyway.

I had plenty of extra time built into my training schedule, so missing two weeks won't hurt. I'm planning to pick up with another six mile run this weekend, and then carry on from there. I'll still be able to reach 16 miles before the half-marathon, if I decide to go that far, or do two 14-mile runs.

Tuesday

2 miles, 2:3 minute run/walk ratio, 34:47 minutes

Well, my decision to do my weekday runs on Mondays instead of Tuesdays lasted... zero weeks. I didn't feel like running yesterday; by the time I would have been ready, it was already 10 am and hot, so I canceled it and ran today instead. Got out there early enough, just after 8 am (and it was already hot, but not blisteringly so), and had a good run down the road and back.

I think that trying to do half-hour practice and running on the same day is not happening. I will make my morning run my practice for the day, and do sitting on alternate days. Hm.