We are home from camping!! Did you miss me? I know I sort of took a hiatus from blogging. It was kind of nice too. I needed to recharge and work on topics for blogging.
Last week I received this amazing gift from my husband! Isn’t it beautiful? I’m so spoiled I picked out the turtle because I don’t run fast, but I still get there.
We had the best camping trip this past weekend. It was by far the best trip so far. We spent a ton of time outside around the fire. A little too late Friday night, I ended up not making it to my 5K I was signed up for the next morning. Oh well. Totally worth it.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, I started my 2nd round of Half Marathon training. This time for the IMT Half Marathon in Des Moines, IA. I am super excited for this race, as I have alot of local runner friends who are all running it, and some who are staying in the same hotel as we are!
If there’s anything I learned from the first round of training it’s these 3 things:
1. Just getting in the miles isn’t enough. I need to do more hill work, more tempo runs and speed drills. I did not work on various running training at all last time. I just made sure I ran all of my mileage. The IMT route is not hilly, but those hills sure make my speed better when I run flat!
2. Strength Training. This is so important. I need to be more diligent about working on strength training at least 3 days a week. I also am determined to work in other workouts like swimming and bicycling as well. This will also aid in the weight I need to lose. We all know building muscle helps burn fat! I also need to get my abs in check…oh cupcakes…I’ll miss you…
3. Eat Better. Not necessarily clean, because I agree with THIS article on that topic, but definitely better. I need to make wiser choices. I treated the first training period like I did my first pregnancy. During my first pregnancy, I had the mindset I could eat more because I was eating for 2. With the half training I had the mindset that I am doing this work, so I can eat more. Just because I run 10 miles and burn 1000 calories does not give me the right to eat 2000 calories to replace it! OUCH! So I am going to really try to track my calorie intake and drink more water. I know I’ll run better if I can lose 25-50lbs. So I really need to work on my self-discipline.
So I am really hoping I can take what I learned from the first round of training and use it to run a better, stronger and faster Half marathon this next time.
I’m excited to train for this one, it will be totally different because I’ll be training in 16 weeks instead of 20, and I will be training in the summer heat, instead of the winter cold.
I am also determined to be better at taking photos when I’m out running and blogging more about my training.
Anyway, this was kind of a determination/accountability post for me. I feel like if I put these things out there, then I have to get them done so I can blog about it!!
I hope you all had a great weekend!
What have you learned during training for a race?
