Training log - July 8, 2014

Sometimes I feel bad that I don’t have a proper training schedule. I’ve mentioned before that I usually schedule my long-run on Thursdays because that's my day off from work. Well, this is one of those weeks where my long-run is being moved. Finding out that there is a meeting I need to be in on Thursday morning means my run gets rescheduled and my dentist appointment gets cancelled. Despite the rescheduling, I have to remember that a run is a run, no matter which day I choose to do it on… and it’s much better than forgoing my run altogether.

Anyways, here this week’s long-run recap:

To be quite honest, my training right now is not for a half-marathon, although it’s my next race. Being 17 weeks away and previously running two halfs (including one in May and no, I did not mean halves) has not left me worried. My only goal for this race is get over my 2:41:xx time.

I was also excited to change my running day because the weather had forecasted rain. Rain might be my favourite weather to run in. Unfortunately the first half of my run was dry and humid, and I only experienced rain near the end.

Either way, this week’s goal was 21 kilometers, and I completed 21.1 kilometers – a half marathon. I aimed to run at 7:30 so I woke up early and ate a bagel with cream cheese. Well, then I felt sleepy and went back to bed, and didn’t leave for my run until 10:30. I drank a cup of tea and half a liter of water to pre-hydrate but the humidity left me incredibly thirsty. For all of my long-runs I take my Fuel Belt. I drank my two 8 oz. bottles and refilled them once I got to a fountain around 11K. I also drank a good half liter straight from the fountain while I stopped. By approximately 16K I had drank the two bottles I refilled so I stopped at a chip truck and bought another bottle (there were no other fountains around). I drank this by the time I finished my run. I have never experienced such extreme thirst during a run before.

I was so wet and tired that I was struggling to peel my running clothes off. I ended up sitting on the floor of my shower, under a stream of water, with a bag of frozen grapes because I couldn’t decide if I needed fuel or a shower more.

Next week I’m aiming for 22 kilometers but as my run yesterday was such a struggle I don’t know if I’m going to be able to hit my goal. Here’s to hoping.