Half Marathon Training Update

We are officially a quarter way through our half marathon training. I've had a rocky start, but am making strides. (pun intended)

With the exception of taking a week off, Jesse is sticking with the plan. He is quickly improving his pace and mood. We have slightly different schedules (different rest and long run days) so we can take turns running and watching the kids. I printed off our schedules so we can mark off each day.

I've had a variety of challenges over the past month, including:

• Getting legitimately lost on the greenway
• The back of my ankles bleeding from my shoes
• Struggling with severe shin splints
• Falling on the sidewalk after my knee gave out
• Having to mostly walk for a week due to knee pain

Yesterday was my most enjoyable run yet. It was the first time I wasn't in pain. I'm using Map My Run for distance runs. I was using the Runtastic Timer app for interval training, but I stopped running as much because I was in pain.

My most recent run

My pace is still too slow, so I'll have to work on that. The time limit is 3 hours, which means I need a pace of 13.5 minute miles or less. For any serious runner, that would be a laughable goal. For a very overweight non-runner, that's optimistically achievable.

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Jesse, who has already consumer several beers, dictated the following to me about his running progress:

It's going good. I'm consistently beating your time, which is all I hoped for. No, you don't have to type that. I'm feeling good. I got a new haircut for training season. Sometimes I wake up early and go to the greenway. Those are good days. On my cross training days I do the elliptical for twenty minutes and then weights. I got a new pair of shoes. No, two new pairs of shoes. 

I was using "Map My Run" which I wouldn't recommend because it would only tell me the distance every 10 minutes and the interface wasn't good. I switched to Runkeeper, which alerts you to the distance and the time. I have it set to tell me the interval times on the short runs and the distance on the long runs. Today was a 5 mile run and it alerted me every half mile. And I think the lady's voice is sexy. Also I saw four deer. I've seen some bunnies. I saw a pretty sexy older lady today. No, I'm just kidding. I did see an older lady but I didn't find her sexy. She waved to me. I guess that's it. Good night. Bye.

Jesse's most recent run