Workout Wednesday: NWM Training Update

There are exactly 95 days until the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco, CA. That’s about 13.5 weeks. Typically, half marathon training plans are 12 weeks long so I’ve been using these extra weeks to try to get my base back. Thank GOD for that! I am SO out of shape. It’s bad. I wasn’t even going to do a training update until the first week because I’m so embarrassed, but I finally realized that I have nothing to be embarrassed about. This is what happens when you take time off and almost every runner I know has gone through this at some point. I’ve learned a great lesson and I’m going to try my best not to let it happen again. So let’s talk about what’s really going on…

I have only one goal (so far) for this race: finish without walking. Obviously, if I have to walk through a water station I will, but my goal is to run the entire race. From what I’ve been getting out of my body lately, that is going to be hard enough without worrying about my time.

So far, I haven’t run more than 2.5 miles. And I’d say 90% of my runs end with me being so glad that the fitness center at my apartment is always empty so no one has to listen to me huff and puff like my lungs are caving in. I’m also running a full minute (or more!) slower than I was in December before the big bronchitis fiasco that got me into this mess in the first place. I know that if I just slowed way down, I could keep running forever. But since I know that I’m capable of running faster, I can’t get my body to slow down and just start from where I am now. To say that I’ve been frustrated and discouraged is an understatement. It seems like the more I try, the more my body gives up on me. The healthier I try to eat, the more junk food I crave. And it just goes on and on and on.

But I will never give up. When I first started running in November 2011, I literally couldn’t run for longer than 2 minutes. After that first awful run in New Orleans, I promised myself that I would get better, and I did. And I’ll do it again. With running, or any sport, there’s always going to be something you’re striving for. If it was easy, why would you do it? And more importantly, what would you get out of it? I know that I haven’t even touched the surface of what I’m capable of as a runner and I’m excited for the journey.

Here’s hoping knowing that next week’s training check-in will be much better! Are any of you training for anything? Picked up a new sport? Trying a new workout?

Tagged as: fitness, Health, healthy eating, healthy living, jogging, Nike Women's Half Marathon, Nike Women's Marathon, Running, Training, workout wednesday