here we go again.

i am back in training again! i am signed up for the myrtle beach mini marathon! 13.1 miles here i come again. i want to see how i do with less opportunities to stop along the way. (in disney there were photo ops that i couldn't pass up, as well as the insane weather, and the whole "this is my first time running this, i am taking it extra carefully" motto, and a small line for a real bathroom that all made my finish time a bit longer than i planned)..... i had no complaints about my first half finish time, but now i am out to improve! with that being my first half marathon, my goal was to finish under 3 hours and i did! so we will see how i do again this october, hoping to cut my time shorter by just a little at least!

over the summer i tried to keep up mileage, but it was hard. i did what i could when i could. hopefully, i'll be ok. last year the longest training run i did was a 12 miler. i hope to at least do that once or twice before this half, if the schedule and my body agrees!

i put together a training plan for september and october, and i hope it will be enough to get me through. i am pretty confident my finish time will improve, but there is always that small worry it won't. i think i am running faster than i was last year, even if just by a small bit. we will see!

after not having done a long run for a couple weeks, last sunday i did 8.5 miles, which were not my best ever 8.5 miles, but i got it done and that is what counts.

and it was hard. i attribue it to exhaustion overload both physically and mentally (life stresses, and poor grammy had a heart attack, but is better thank goodness!). also i don't believe i fueled enough before, and definitely not during the run as i should have. i knew better, but sometimes you just don't listen to yourself! those 8.5 miles felt like at least 14, and i never have run further than 13.1! it went ok though. by the end i felt like i did after my first 11 miler training run last fall, without the chilly cold weather. fuel was a key issue then, and it was this time too. lesson learned. long run = fuel mid mileage at least!

after 8.5 miles

here's hoping this next half goes smoothly and in a better finish time since my disney half! and here is also praying for good running weather, and no "flukes" like in disney!