Tuesday

19 laps, 1:1 lap run/walk ratio, 31:59 minutes

Ha! Made it under 32 minutes, by a mere second! 16-minute miles, and it felt pretty good.

I decided last night to skip the Zyrtec I've been taking for my allergies. I've been wondering if it was one of the reasons I've been feeling so tired and enervated lately. I tried skipping it once before, but my head got stuffed up at night so I continued taking it. This time, my head remained clear all night and I woke up at 6:30 am feeling refreshed and ready to go, so that's a very encouraging sign! I'm going to stop taking the Zyrtec for a while and see what happens.

I'm also considering trying to complete the California Dreamin' Racing Series. It occurred to me that, if I really want to keep exercising regularly throughout the year(s), I need to schedule myself for a race at least every six months to keep myself motivated to run. Otherwise, I just sit around and get lazy until the next time I decide to sign up for a race. And, conveniently, here's this series. You need to complete either a marathon or a half marathon over two years in each of three races: Long Beach, Surf City (Huntington Beach), and San Francisco. I'm already signed up for Long Beach. Next race would be Surf City on Feb 1 next year, then San Francisco on July 26. Both Surf City and SF have 6-hour time limits on their marathons, so it would have to be half marathons for both. Surf City's half marathon limit is 6 hours, same as the marathon, so that's no problem. San Francisco has two half marathons, one has a 3-hour time limit, and the other is 3.5 hours. I'd have to do the 3.5-hour one, and hope I can cut my time down by about ten minutes between now and next August. It's a challenge, but it's doable, I think.

Let's see, 13.1 miles in 3.5 hours comes out to 16-minute miles. Right now, I can do 16-minute miles for about two miles. On a good day. Heh. I will really need to increase my speed, but if I keep training, I think I can do it. I should also lose about 20 pounds. Having less weight to carry would enable me to run faster.

Anyway, it's something to think about. I know I can do Surf City, and that would be next. That will keep me running over the winter, brr! I may have to join a gym so I can run on a treadmill when the weather's bad.