Starting All Over Again...

So it's been a couple of months since I've given up on long runs.. I focused a little bit more on 5Ks and really working on my speed. I have been trying to run under a 24 minute 5K and am almost there... but now that I'm half marathon training again... I got to build up my endurance. This changes the way I train during the week and my mileage for the week.

My run today was a 7.5 mile run. I clocked in at 1 hr 13 min and 16 seconds. That averages to about a 9:46 min/mile. I didn't take away a minute from my time (which I should have) since I had to stop and tie my shoe and stop at a couple of lights to crossover which would be bring my avg time down a little tiny bit. I am pretty happy about my time right now.. Of course I've got to get under a 9 minute mile to get under a 2 hour half marathon time but I have under 5 months to get there which is more than enough time.

Next week I'll bump up my mileage to about 8 miles and slow down my pace to a 10 min/mile... I've also got to improve my eating habits... I'm definitely not giving my body the fuel it needs to go this distance AND I've really got to focus on hydration because I don't hydrate enough.. Another thing I really have to look into is speed work for endurance runners. I've been so busy working on quick short speeds.. I've got to find something to speed up my long runs... I'll be researching this week and let you all know what I find... Tomorrow I will be running 4 miles with some friends...and really just stretching out my legs.

OH I almost forgot.... yesterday I went walking with my friend S who just had a baby.. nothing too long since Florida heat is horrible! However, when I got home I saw a post on Facebook from Active that showed a 15 minute total body workout for runners... it was awesome :) It was a circuit workout with 4 basic exercises- step-ups, dips, push ups, and basic crunches. You start out doing 10 of each and work yourself to 1 of each without stopping... I'm not going to lie it was pretty tough but it felt really good... I might try to incorporate this at least once a week if not more... Anyways thought I would share :)