Week 6 - Complete

So week 6 of my Half Marathon training is complete. 

Observations in Bullets:

• The first mile of my short runs (this week 2 miles total) feel SO hard.  Yet, when I do twice the total distance the other days those first 2 weren't as hard.  Definitely mind over matter.  Clearly knowing I only had to do 2 made it seem like they should be REALLY easy.
• My calves felt a little sore this week.
• Today when I did my long run (6 miles) the last 3 felt easier than the first.

So basically I'm really kind of buying in to the whole distance running is half a mental challenge.  I'm getting that now.  While I haven't run any miles on the treadmill lately, it's almost making me nervous for when I don't have any choice but to log some mill runs.  Am I ruining myself?  I used to LOVE my treadmill and had absolutely no problem running 6 miles on there.  We shall see.

This weeks plan called for the following:

Monday  -  Yoga.  It was easy and I have to admit I really enjoy Yoga Monday's.

Tuesday - Run 4 miles.  I ran by work and it was a little sluggish.

Wednesday - Run 2 miles.  I felt really sluggish but then it was over.  A little dodging and weaving around classrooms of children.

Thursday - Run 4 miles.  It felt good to get out this day.

Friday - Rest day and rest I did!

Saturday - Cross train 40 minutes.  I didn't do a thing.  I'm not good at this cross training stuff.  It feels like such a chore to get it in and Saturday's are so busy for me.  I need to think about how to get better at this.

Sunday - Run 6 miles.  I was up at 6:45am and my friend Rebecca picked me up.  We headed down to our usual spot and logged the miles quickly.  We tried our first round of "fuel".  Blueberry/Pomegranate GU Chomps.  They were tasty.  Sweet .. but tasty.  Well .. okay .. they weren't gross.

I can't believe that we have passed the halfway point in our training and it just gets harder.  I keep questioning whether my body can handle it.  I read blogs by all these other runners and the vast majority of them are so much younger than me. I never really thought of myself as "old" but kind of I do these days.  I will be turning 37 exactly 1 week prior to race day.  Gosh I feel old.  I beat up my body as a teenager.  I played all kinds of sports including softball, basketball, volleyball,  and swimming.  The softball took a serious toll on my body I think. I have bad knee's because of it.  So now I wonder if I've ruined parts of me.  Not to mention I've carried 4 babies and had 4 c-sections, the last one was less than a year ago.  But I am a classic Type-A personality. I will push myself because basically I get a rush out of doing it.  Plus I'm uber competitive.  And it feels good to be pushing myself athletically again.

I digress .. again.  So this week we're upping things again.  Here's what we've got on the schedule, I'd be lying if I said it didn't intimidate me.

Monday - Yoga
Tuesday - 4.5 mile run
Wednesday - 3 mile run
Thursday - 4.5 mile run
Friday - Rest
Saturday 50 min cross train, I really hope to get on the bike
Sunday - 7 mile run (I've never run that far in my life)

From this weeks long run on, they will all be distance PR's for me. 

Deep breath ...

I'm a little scared.

Oh .. but look at my cute family!  We took some family pictures last weekend and I love how they turned out.  These weren't professional (I feel like I should point that out).