Zombies, Run! Season 2, Mission 38: Jailbreak

37:21 minutes - 2.06 miles - 18:09 min/mile

Had a really hard time motivating myself to get out and do my mission today. Hardly got any sleep last night (again) and I was really tired and depressed and icky. But when 4 PM rolled around, I told myself I could just walk the mission, and only run any zombie chases (there weren't any), and went out and did it.

Kind of sad that my walking time isn't really that much slower than my running/walking time. Oh well. The temperature was around 67 F when I went out. The loop of my driveway was about half in shade, and the wind was blowing, so it was mostly pretty cool, only getting hot when I was in the sun while the wind had died down. So it was a pleasant enough walk.

 

I'm not really confident about my ability to keep up my exercise when I'm already having so much trouble making myself do it. I just feel so awful most of the time. Usually, once I start exercising regularly, I start feeling better—stronger, more energy, sleeping better—but this time, I just feel worse. So tired and draggy and dizzy. I suppose I should see a doctor, but they haven't been able to figure out what's wrong with me yet, so it just seems pointless. Blah.

Zombies, Run! Season 2, Mission 37: Sweet Escape

40:26 minutes - 2.09 miles - 19:22 min/mile

Another late run—too late, as it turned out. I hardly slept last night, and ended up getting up around 9 AM, way too late to run in the morning, so I planned to go out in the afternoon, as soon as it started to cool down a little. But by 4 PM, I was so tired I decided to take a nap instead and run after dinner. Slept for about 45 minutes (ahhhhh!), then got up and started dinner, fed the kitties, ate my dinner, and finally got my running clothes on and headed out around 7 PM. It was still light when I started, and nice and cool, but it started getting dark pretty quickly, and I started worrying about keeping my footing when I couldn't see the ground very well, as well as wondering if there were any mountain lions or bears out hunting who might think a running person would make a good target. I started running half-loops, doubling back to stay near the house, and eventually just came inside and finished the last three or four minutes walking back and forth in the house. So my time was all messed up—the GPS didn't know where I was half the time. My splits were 17:07 and 17:05, though, for the first part of the run, so that's probably closer to my time.

I did one lap running, one lap walking again, and had one zombie chase at 30 minutes. I'd increased the frequency of chases from 1.5 per hour to 2 per hour, and finally got one!

Starting week three and I'm still doing my runs, but I need to be more regular with my running times. The weather should finally be cooling down now, so I sleep in a bit more and still do mornings.

Zombies, Run! Season 2, Mission 36: One Way Or Another

35:49 minutes - 2.15 miles - 16:41 min/mile

Did an afternoon run today. I was tired yesterday and didn't set my alarm, so I slept in until 8 AM. I figured it wasn't that hot today, so I would just run later.  Was planning to run after I did chores and had my morning cocoa, but then I got a call from my mom's home that she was all agitated and asking if I'd come and try to calm her down, so I did that, and by the time I got home it was lunch time and then I'd sort of forgotten about running until around 4 PM, when I went out to put the recyclables in the shed and saw that it was cloudy and cool and thought it would be a good time to run. Of course, by the time I got my running clothes on and went outside, the sun had come out from behind the clouds and it was hot again, but I figured I could just walk and get it done anyway. But I ended up doing the one lap running, one lap walking interval anyway. The clouds came back for part of the time so at least I wasn't running in the sun the whole way.

No zombie chases again. That's what, three missions in a row? I just know if I bump up the chase frequency I'm going to end up getting four chases in one mission. Oh well. Guess I'll try it for next time and see what happens.

I still feel pretty slow, and I was thinking, here it is, two whole weeks in, and I've barely improved my time. But today's run was better. At least it was under 17 min/mile. In fact, it looks like today's mission was a full 45 seconds/minute faster than the last one. So I guess I am getting better. Although, it seems like I generally run faster in the afternoon than in the morning. I'm not really a morning person.

So, two full weeks of running! I've sort of fallen off doing yoga on my off days, but I guess as long as I get my runs in I'm not going to worry about it.

SPOILERS

Zombies, Run! Season 2, Mission 35: Dog Days Are Over

42:40 minutes - 2.43 miles - 17:35 min/mile

Another run! (Yes, I'm still amazed at myself that I'm actually keeping it up this time!) I haven't been good at all about getting up early on non-mission days. I even skipped yoga yesterday—not intentionally, I planned to do cat chores first and yoga later, since I'd slept in until 8 AM—but I forgot about it once I got into my morning routine. Still, when the alarm went off at 6 AM, I got up and got dressed and went out to run. It was actually kind of chilly this morning. I wore my long-sleeved Star Wars shirt that I got at the Disneyland Half Marathon last January and was still shivering until I got warmed up. Still only 55 F right now, with the sun up. Looks like the weather is finally going to start cooling down. Maybe I can start running at 7 AM soon.

I am still doing a one lap running, one lap walking interval, and still pretty slow. Won't be doing any half marathons at this speed! I felt like I was going faster today but my time hasn't improved very much. No chases again today. Maybe I need to boost up the frequency a bit (and then I'll immediately get four chases in one run). Well, it's only my second week back, so I won't worry yet. I don't have any races planned anyway. Except maybe the Zombies, Run! virtual race on Halloween, which would only be a 5K or 10K and virtual besides. I should check into signing up for that, but it's still a ways away. Will try to make it to the park on Saturday. With the weather cooling down, I expect I could still get up at 6 and start my run at the park at 6:30 without getting too hot.

SPOILERS

Zombies, Run! Season 2, Mission 34: Ready To Go

36:02 minutes - 2.04 miles - 17:41 min/mile

Week 2! Another slow run, but I got out there. I was a little worried about getting up early, after sleeping in until 8 AM Sunday and Monday. Plus, I didn't sleep in the afternoon yesterday, and had a hard time getting to sleep at night, lying awake until after midnight. Then I woke up at 4 AM and couldn't get back to sleep, so I lay there drowsing until about 10 minutes to 6, when I went ahead and got up and ran. Turned out to be fine to get up and run—I'm still pretty slow, but that's at least partly because I'm going slow on purpose to save energy in case of zombie chases. I'll probably be tired later, but I don't have anywhere I have to go today, so I'll just take a nap if I get sleepy.

Anyway, the run got done. No zombie chases today. I suspect, if I'm going to run with chases on, I'm going to have to just run as best I can and take my chances if there are chases. But I do want to ease into running again after taking so many months off, so these first few weeks I'm not going to worry about speed, just getting the missions done.

Zombies, Run! Season 2, Mission 33: Athena

43:34 minutes - 2.45 miles - 17:45 min/mile

Woohoo! An entire week! Heh. I hope this means I'm officially back into it. I had thought I'd go to the park and run today, but if I go to the park to run, I should get up even earlier—at 5:30 AM instead of 6 AM—so I can get to the park in time to start my run at 6 and finish by 7, when the sun starts to hit. And I was really really tired yesterday—hadn't slept well at all, got up early anyway and did yoga, tried to nap in the afternoon but only got a little sleep, so I decided to just stay home and run today, so I could sleep that extra half hour.

I did go to bed early last night and slept pretty well, so I was awake and ready to go when the alarm went off at 6. For today's run, I decided to do one lap running, one lap walking, while keeping the running down to a slow jog. I was mostly trying to keep my time slow so I could handle any zombie chases that came up, but there weren't any today. (I wish the zombie chases were a little less random. At the same setting, I've had as many as four chases in one mission, and as few as none. It would be nice to be able to specify "2 chases per mission" or something like that, instead of an average per hour.)

My splits were 16:47, 18:26, and 17:22, which I think I can put down to the GPS being off, because I really doubt I slowed down by a minute and a half for the second mile. I've been running with WiFi turned off, now that I have unlimited data on my phone—I don't want to use up my home data—but I think WiFi helps with location accuracy, so maybe I should turn it on while I run. Not that the mileage really makes that much difference on these timed runs.

I started to do cat chores as soon as I came in and changed clothes, but I got so dizzy while I was scooping litter boxes, I decided to take a break and sit down with a protein drink and do my running blog for a bit and wait for my blood pressure to come back before I finish chores. It won't hurt the cats to wait another half hour for their breakfast, even though Mister thinks he's starving.

SPOILERS

Zombies, Run! Season 3 Mission 32: Tightrope

36:47 minutes - 2.03 miles - 18:08 min/mile

So far, so good! Two whole missions in a row! Heh. I decided to do yoga on my off days from running, so yesterday I got up at 7 AM and did 15 minutes of yoga after morning chores. It would be better to get up at 6 AM every day, whether I go out to run or not, but I didn't set my alarm and couldn't quite make it up any earlier. I'll start setting the alarm from now on.

My experiment with sleeping for several hours in the afternoon proceeds. Tuesday I was really tired in the afternoon, but only managed to sleep for maybe half an hour or so. I did retire to my room and lie down from 3 PM to 5 PM, so I got some rest anyway. Then Wednesday, yesterday, got up at 7 AM as mentioned, did yoga, and then again went to my room to lie down at 3 PM. I didn't feel as tired as the day before, but I did sleep at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Better! And today, set the alarm for 6 AM and staggered out of bed when it went off, pulled on my clothes and went out.

My right shin was twinging, so I decided to walk today's mission again, at least until/unless my shin stopped hurting. Near the end, my leg was feeling better, so I decided to jog slowly for a lap or two, and of course that was when I got my only zombie chase of the mission. Evaded without the zombies getting within 50 meters, but I think the GPS was off, because it seemed like I barely went over half a lap before it was over. One lap is just over a tenth of a mile, so zombie chases should last for most of a lap. Anyway, I was a bit slower today than last time, mostly because of only one zombie chase instead of three. Maybe I'll do a bit more running on Saturday. Or maybe just finish the week walking and start running more next week.

Of course, now that I'm running again (for two whole sessions!), I'm already thinking about the next race. Probably go ahead and sign up for the Zombies, Run! Virtual Race for Halloween, but maybe start looking into new half marathons as well.

SPOILERS:

Zombies, Run! Season 2, Mission 31: Hello

45:50 minutes - 2.55 miles - 17:57 min/mile

Yet another long time since the last run. Back when I last posted, I tried getting up at 6 AM to go out and run, but at that time of summer, the sun was coming up over the mountain by 6:30 and I was still getting fried before I finished. I did it a time or two, but soon gave it up. I then tried going out for a walk in the evening after the sun had gone behind the mountain and it had started to cool down, around 7 or 8 PM. That worked, as far as the weather went, but I just couldn't get into the habit. So I soon gave that up, too, and I haven't been exercising much at all these past few months.

This morning, I woke up around 5:15 AM, grabbed my phone to check mail and futz around a bit online, as I do, and then thought, well, since I'm awake, why not get up and run/walk? I got started a little after 6 AM and the sun had just come over the mountain by the time I finished, but hadn't quite started getting hot yet. It's late enough in the summer that the sun is rising a bit later, and it looks like I'll be able to start running at 6 AM and finish before the heat sets in. So I hope to keep this up now, getting a morning run in at least three times a week. There is going to be a Zombies, Run! Virtual Race for Halloween that I may sign up for, that would give me something to work towards.

Anyway, for this run, since I hadn't done any exercising in a while, I decided to just run during the zombie chases and walk the rest of the time. There were three chases, at 4, 19, and 40 minutes. I evaded them all, though the first one had me huffing and puffing—I hadn't really warmed up yet. The others were easier. My splits were 17:41, 17:56, and 17:38. (Which is weird, since all three splits are less than my overall time, how does that work?)

It felt pretty good to get out there again. I am wondering if I could get myself into  the habit of taking a siesta during the hottest time of the day, say from 3 PM to 6 PM. Then I could stay up later and get up early to run, and still get enough sleep. Hm.

Zombies, Run! Season 2, Mission 30: Panic

46:36 minutes - 2.37 miles - 19:40 min/mile

Finally, another run (or walk, mostly). I've been trying off and on to get back into some sort of exercise, but having no luck. I've tried yoga and using my WiiFit, and just ended up getting sore—and not the good soreness of well-exercised muscles, but the bad soreness of straining them. I spent a couple of weeks working outdoors cutting weeds and building my shed, but the weeds are done and the weather's turned hot now and I can't get much done outdoors during the day. I knew what I really needed to do was to start getting up early and running/walking before it gets too hot, like I did last summer, but was having a hard time motivating myself to do it.

But this morning I woke up at 6 AM and just decided to do it. I did a little running, maybe one lap of running for every two or three of walking, but didn't push myself and felt free to stop and take pictures of a bee on a flower and a Jerusalem cricket that had wandered onto my driveway. Felt pretty good!

It was starting to get hot already by the time I was done. I should really be getting up at first light, around 5 AM, so I can finish before the sun hits. But 6 AM works, as long as I'm only doing 40 – 45 minute sessions.

Now, just have to keep it up.

Training Mission #2

43:24 minutes - 2.55 miles - 17:03 min/mile

All right, I actually ran twice in a row! Maybe this time I'll actually start running regularly again. I decided to do the second training mission for the Virtual Race, just for completeness' sake. I was still a bit sore from doing a hard run Saturday with no training, so I wanted to take it easy today. I did turn zombie chases back on, although I reduced them to 1.5 per hour. I didn't time my intervals, but ran two or three laps and then walked one. I kept my pace easy in case I had a chase, but didn't get any today.

I think I will concentrate on 5K distances for now, and see if I can't get my speed up a bit. It occurred to me, as I was thinking about that before the race, that I kind of went about my running career backwards—I expect most people would start out with short races, and gradually build up their distance. But I started out running marathons, then half marathons, a few 10Ks, and now I'm planning on 5Ks! Well, I might do another half marathon sometime, or even a full, but for now, and through the summer, I will keep the distances short so I can run early when the weather heats up and avoid running in the heat of the day. Today, though, it's cloudy and around 60F, so I ran at 11:30 AM with no problem.

Today's mission was fun, rescuing someone trapped in a burning amusement park. But now I have Small World stuck in my head, argh!

Zombies, Run! Virtual Race 5K

54:39 minutes - 3.40 miles - 16:05 min/mile

Obviously, I didn't get any more training in before the Virtual Race, so I decided to just do the 5K and do my best. I went to the park to do my run, wore my European Rescue Force tee-shirt, and ran the loop. It was 11 AM by the time I got ready to hit the road, but fortunately the weather is still fairly cool this time of year, so it wasn't too bad running in the middle of the day. Temperature was low 60s and there were sparse clouds and a light breeze.

I'm actually pretty pleased with my time, considering I've only run once since mid-January. I figured it was only going to be 3 miles, so I might as well push it and not worry about saving any energy for later. I used a 1:1 minute run/walk ratio, and tried to keep my walking pace up.  My splits were 15:06, 16:39, and 15:40. I felt pretty good the whole way and didn't even get de-energized by the sun. It was good to finally get out there and do a run again. I hope I can keep it up this time, although soon it will be warming up enough that I'll have to get up early and run before the sun gets too hot.

The mission was different—I was not my usual Runner 5, but a runner with the European Rescue Force, and this was apparently set before the start of the Zombies, Run! main story, as the runners were aware of an infection but weren't expecting zombies, just trying to rescue a train that had gotten stuck in a tunnel. But zombies there were!

I still have the second training mission to run, which might help fill in a few things about this mission. I will run that next, and then I can get back to Season 2.

Trainng Mission #1

40:58 minutes - 2.37 miles - 17:16 minutes/mile

Took  a bit of a break there! About two months' worth, looks like. Oops. I meant to take a week or two off after the Disneyland Half Marathon, but the weather was horrible, rain and snow that made the driveway too muddy to run on, plus it was cold and I was tired and felt awful most of the winter, so the weeks stretched on and I kept telling myself I needed to start exercising again, but I just couldn't get myself going. But I'd signed up for the Zombies, Run! Spring Virtual Race way back before the half marathon, even, and I finally checked the dates on that (April 7 – 18) and figured I'd better get started training for it.

Today's run was the first training mission for the virtual race. Runner 5 is now part of the European Rescue Force, and today's mission was to rescue a hostage being held in a hospital. I didn't get out on the run until around 10:30 AM. The temperature was still in the low 60s but the sun was higher than I like. Need to start getting up early and running before chores. But it wasn't too bad. I did intervals of 1 lap running/1 lap walking and felt okay, if slow, but for the first run in months, it was as I expected. Splits were 16:53, 17:06, and 17:36. Slowed down a bit at the end but not too much. A decent start.

Disneyland Star Wars Half Marathon

I did it!

The half marathon actually went really well. I got up around 3:30 AM (after lying awake more or less since 1 AM, too full of anticipation to go back to sleep), got ready and headed out from the hotel around 4:15 AM. Followed the crowd to the starting area and hung about until it was time to go get corralled at 5 AM. I was in the last corral, J. I didn't realize there would be a wave start, with five minutes in between corrals. It ended up being nearly 6:30 by the time I crossed the starting line, and I was freezing! It was around 50 F at that time of morning, and I was wearing only my long-sleeved event tee-shirt and leggings. I hadn't wanted to wear a jacket, knowing I'd be warm enough once I started running, but I hadn't counted on standing around in the cold for two hours before I'd finally get to run!

The race started on Disneyland Drive, wended its way through California Adventure Park and Disneyland Park for about four miles before heading out into the city streets of Anaheim and Garden Grove. It was a good course, nice flat streets. They even switched us back and forth between which side of the street was closed to run on, so we didn't get pains from running with the same leg "downhill" the whole way.

I started out with a few minutes' advantage, being in the middle of the pack when my corral started, so the official 16-minute pace limit didn't start until the last of the runners crossed the starting line a few minutes after me. There were crew at each mile marker announcing how far ahead of pace we were when we crossed, and I managed to maintain about a 15:30 pace, getting a little bit farther ahead of pace as I went along.

The sun came out as the day wore on, but it was still cool and breezy and the sunlight didn't bother me too much. I felt good the whole way and didn't get too tired. My official time was 3:22:53, which makes it my second best half marathon. Pretty decent time, especially considering all the lapses in my training! And I even had energy to go enjoy California Adventure Park after the race.

I did get a blister on the inside of my right little toe, where it was rubbing against my 4th toe. I suspect it was because I'd re-laced my running shoes and left the laces looser near the front of my foot, trying to keep my toes from banging against the end of my shoes and getting sore. The good news is, my toes didn't get nearly as sore as they were getting on long runs. But I got a blister instead. Oh well!

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 29

38:30 minutes - 2.49 miles - 15:26 min/mile

Well, that's it! Last run before the half marathon! Went pretty well. Of course, I'd prefer it if I'd managed to do all my training runs, but I did my best and got these past two weeks in, and my pace is okay, so I'm satisfied.

I waited a bit for today's run, hoping the wood-cutting guy would finish and leave, but he didn't, so I told myself to just get out there and do it anyway, and I did. Chatted a bit with him as I ran by and it was no big deal, so why get worked up about it? It was chilly and overcast, about 45 F, with a light drizzle that turned into a full rain just a few minutes after I finished my run, so good timing! I wore my base layer, long leggings and short-sleeved tee-shirt, and hoodie—thought it might be too warm, but it turned out to be just right. The damp air made it feel colder. It's supposed to snow later today, so I'm glad I got my run done now! My splits were 15:12, 15:21, and 15:33. Slowing down a bit as I went, but not too much. Of course, that was only 2 1/2 miles, and I've got 13.1 to do on Sunday! But if I pace myself (try to maintain about a 15:30 pace, that will keep me comfortably under the 16 minute/mile limit while not overdoing it) I think I can do it. Just have to wait and see.

Weather report for Anaheim says Sunday will be cloudy with a high of 64 F and low the night before of 47 F. Probably be around 50 for the start of the race, up to the mid to high 50s by the time we finish. And cloudy, which will be perfect for me. So the weather is on my side! Looking forward to finally doing a half marathon at Disneyland! And also looking forward to taking a break afterwards, heh.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 28

38:41 minutes - 2.45 miles - 15:46 min/mile

Another run done! Only one more to go before the half marathon! Did pretty well today, pace under 16 min/mile, although my splits were 14:58, 16:02, and 16:15. Started out too fast, I guess. But I wasn't using my watch to time intervals today, I just ran till I felt like walking and walked till I felt like running. So I might have been running too much. Anyway, no matter, I got my run done and it went pretty well. I got off to a late start—the guy who's cutting trees for the guy next door had edged over onto my property so I had to go out there with my parcel maps to show him where the property line is. That got me all wound up, so I was out walking the line with my GPS app on my phone this morning instead of running. Heh. But I got my run done, anyway. Thursday's run might be a problem — it's supposed to rain tomorrow again and snow on Thursday. I can drive to the park and run in the snow if I have to, but we'll see how it goes.

I've recently started using playlists with the in-app music player, instead of playing music externally, and I like it better. It turns the music off entirely while playing the game segments, which makes it easier to hear what people are saying. I didn't use it before because I didn't have any playlists set up on my phone, and sometimes I'd run longer than one album, but I created some longer playlists to use and it works really well.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 27, 5 miles

1:17:40 hours - 5.00 miles - 15:32 min/mile

All right, getting back on track! I ran in the afternoon today because I had things to do this morning. Brought my running clothes along with me so I could go straight to the park once I'd finished the rest of my day. It was a bit awkward changing in the restroom at the park — the floors were wet and there was no place to put my clothes while I was swapping them — but it worked out all right. Saved me around 45 minutes over driving back home to change and then out to the park.

The weather was great for running today. Mostly cloudy and around 60 F. The rain stopped late last night and it was fairly dry today but a few muddy spots on the trail. I'd eaten a good lunch of Korean temple food at the temple, and was wondering if it would slow my run or upset my stomach, but I felt pretty good the whole way and made good time. My splits were 15:19, 15:24, 15:03, 15:52, and 15:38. Stayed under 16 min/mile the whole way!

I also did 30 min aerobics with my WiiFit last night. Well, technically, 27 minutes, but close enough. And I did some bowing at temple this morning! So I've been getting lots of exercise. Whew! Taking the day off tomorrow, then back to running around the house. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and Wednesday, but Tuesday should be clear. Then it calls for snow on Thursday. If I'm lucky, it won't be until later in the day and I'll be able to get a run in before it starts, but we'll just have to wait and see.

The weekend is supposed to be sunny and dry the whole time, yay! Should be nice for my weekend at Disneyland.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 26

36:57 minutes - 2.34 miles - 15:49 min/mile

Okay, that's better. Late getting my second midweek run done — not technically midweek any more! Geez, it's been hard to get out there and run in this weather. It's been so cold and so much rain! And  I was sick as a dog on Wednesday with migraine/nausea that left me still weak and queasy on Thursday. I tried to go out and run in the afternoon when I was feeling a little stronger, but the driveway was so muddy I couldn't keep my footing, so I got in the truck to drive to the park and was halfway down the road when I noticed I was nearly out of gas, and of course had no money with me since I was in my running clothes. So I turned around and came home and said forget it. My plan then was to run Friday afternoon, either at the park or get a day pass at the gym and run on the treadmill. I packed my running clothes with me when I went out to do my usual Friday stuff, but I had so much other stuff to do that by the time I was finished and could have gone running, it was cold and I was tired and thought I'd try to do it at home but the road was still muddy and I blew it off for another day.

So I was lying in bed at 3 AM, thinking about what a trainwreck training for this half marathon has been, and should I even bother to try to run it, maybe I should just enjoy my trip to Disneyland and forget the race. But I really didn't want to do that! I want to at least try to run it. But there's only a week now and can I possibly get my speed back up to par in the limited time I have left? The thing is, I know I can do the distance—I've done my 14-mile run without any problems, I was just slow. And it occurred to me that what I need is aerobic work—doesn't necessarily have to be running, just has to get my heart rate up. I can do that at home, indoors, if I have to. Calisthenics or running in place or Zumba or whatever. Also, I remembered one of Jeff Galloway's pieces of advice for older runners, which is that it's better to do two exercise sessions in one day with a day off in between than to exercise every day, because your body needs the time off to recover. So I thought, for this last week, why not do 30 minutes of aerobics twice a day for my midweek run days? Run in the morning, if possible—if the weather's not too horrible and I can force myself to go out, or go to the gym, or something. If not, at least do some sort of exercise for 30 minutes at home.

Starting today. So, today's run counts as my second midweek run for this week. I'll fire up my WiiFit this evening for a second exercise session. Then do my 5-mile run tomorrow afternoon — wouldn't usually run two days in a row, but it's a short run and I'll have time to recover before the next run. It's supposed to be clear and sunny tomorrow, so I can run at the park. And then on Tuesday and Thursday do a morning run and an evening aerobics workout. And then I'll have Friday and Saturday to rest up (well, I'll be driving to Anaheim on Friday and walking all over Disneyland on Saturday, not exactly resting but I won't be running) for the race on Sunday. It's not ideal but it's the best I can do in the time I have left before the race.

Anyway, today's run! Fortunately, there was a bit of a break in the storm at around 9 AM, so I went outside to run. It was a bit drizzly, but not pouring down ran as it was earlier, and is now again. The driveway was still too muddy to run on, so I just ran around the house. There's road base around most of the pad—I had two loads put down, and they ran out before they got all the way around, so the back section isn't done, but most of the pad is firm and level enough to run on without problems, and I was able to find reasonably steady ground to run on as long as I was careful and watched where I was putting my feet. And I tried to push myself as much as I reasonably could. I did pretty well! Splits were 15:15, 15:41, and 15:34—all under 16 min/mile, and even increased my speed a little over the last third of a mile. I didn't time my intervals, but tried to run two loops, then walk one, as well as I remembered to do it. I'm encouraged that I was able to keep up that pace for two miles—now just need to do it for 13.1!

Zombies, Run! Season 2, Mission 25

40:29 minutes - 2.39 miles - 16:54 min/mile

Back to midweek runs, finally! I am going to make every effort to get in every single run from now until the half marathon. I've been skipping so much, I'm getting slow again. I hope I'll be able to get my speed back up a little in two weeks, if I make sure to do all my scheduled runs.

I got off to a late start today, mostly because the guys who are cutting up trees on the property next door were parked right next to my driveway working this morning, and I didn't want to run while they were there. I thought about going to the park or driving down to the mailboxes to run in town, but I didn't want to do that, either. Told myself I was being silly and I should just go do my run, but finally they left around 11 AM, so I got dressed and went out and ran. It was cold today, low 40s and cloudy, so I wore my base layer, long leggings and long-sleeved tee-shirt, gloves and jacket. Stayed pretty comfortable but kept my jacket on the whole time, and wore gloves for about half the time.

My driveway had gotten muddy again. I'm not sure how, I don't remember it raining since the last run, but maybe it rained overnight. Most of it was okay, but the front section was too muddy to run on, so I ran along the side of the driveway on the grass and leaves instead. I had to slow down and be careful not to slip or trip, which may be one reason my pace was so slow today. I felt fine, though, and had a good run, if a slow one. My splits were 16:24, 16:55, and 17:10.

Checking the weather in Anaheim, lows are currently around 50 F, so the race will probably be mid-50s, low-60s. Perfect race weather! And since it starts at 5:30 AM, the race will be over by 9 AM, so even if it's sunny, it shouldn't be a problem. That should help make it a fast race. I keep reminding myself that even my worst half marathon was finished in 3:40, so if I can do better than last Long Beach, I should be okay.

Zombies, Run! Plasmapheresis, 14 miles

14 miles - 4:12 hours

Well, today's run got all screwed up. I ran the New Canton 20K, with an extra mile and a half or so to make 14 miles for my half marathon training. I know I finished the run at 14 miles and hit "Stop", but the run log has disappeared. I remember that it said 4:12 hours — which is a lot for 14 miles, that would come out to a pace of around 18 minutes/mile. I don't think I was that slow! But I ended up running the last 8-ish miles at home, and using the GPS to keep track of miles, which has been shown to undercount the distance when I'm running circles around the house, so I suspect my total mileage was greater than 14 miles.

I came home from the park after about 6 miles, because my stomach was wonky, but since it's New Year's Day, the restrooms were closed. Aargh! I was going to try to run it out anyway, but it quickly (before I even got across the parking lot and back onto the trail) became evident that a bathroom was necessary, so I got in my truck and came home. I didn't feel like driving back to the park after that, and the driveway was reasonably dried out after this last night's snow, so I just ran at home. I should have counted laps or something to make sure I got the distance right, but I figured it would be close enough anyway so just let the GPS measure it. At least the GPS didn't stop working after a mile, as it has done the last three times I ran around the house! After emailing with ZR support, I checked a few things and noticed that the phone's Bluetooth was on — there was no need for that, and I don't remember turning it on, maybe it got reset in the last update. So I turned it off to see if that would help, and possibly that was what was causing the problem. I don't know why Bluetooth should interfere with the GPS, but whatever.

Anyway, what with the break to drive home, and the distance being not totally reliable, and losing the run log, I can't really say anything about today's run other than I did it! But that's all that really matters, I guess.

It was a cold run today, around 40 F all day, sunny but with a cold breeze. I didn't get started at the park until a little after 11 AM, so I ran in the warmest part of the day. Took my hoodie off for a while in the sun, but I was out for so long that the sun had gone behind the mountain before I finished and I put the hoodie back on. Used my usual 1:1 minute run/walk ratio and managed pretty well. I was tired by the time I finished, but kept up with my run intervals until the end. I really wish I could see my split times, I don't feel like I slowed down that much but it's hard to say.

I ended up skipping almost two weeks' worth of runs, between the weather and being busy with Christmas preparations. I am really having a hard time with my training this time. If I hadn't already paid for my Disneyland hotel and invited a friend along with me, I'd probably just forget about the half marathon. But I'm going to Disneyland anyway, so I might as well do the race. If I finish, great, if I don't, well, I'm no worse off than if I hadn't run it. After this one, though, I'm taking a break. Probably do the spring Zombies, Run! Virtual Race, but no more half marathons for a while.