8 is almost 13.1 + workout recap

HOLY MOLY!
My longest run EVER! And I’m happy to say I felt freaken awesome 99% of the time. A bit thirsty, but definitely awesome.

I have to give a shout out to my amazing friend Sarah who took this “action shot”. She came out to the trail just to cheer me on as I started my 8 mile run– and I definitely needed the confidence booster. The thought of running 8 miles was daunting but I kept telling myself it’s really just 4 miles, two times and I know I can run 4 miles. My plan was to take a super quick walking break every 2 miles. These walking breaks weren’t always necessary but I know my brain, it will want to take a walking break approximately every minute if I didn’t set boundaries for myself. Breaking the run up into 2 mile increments made it seem not so bad.

There’s a bunch of reasons why this run was successful- my “take a walk every 2 miles” plan, the cool weather which numbed my aches and pains for the first mile, running on a relatively flat trail where I didn’t have to worry about cars, and a fabulous playlist…  but ultimately it was positive thinking that made these 8 miles not so bad. I stayed far far away from my usual negative nancy running thoughts and instead focused on other things- planning my workout schedule for the week, rocking out to my music and just enjoying the cool fall weather on a beautiful path.

Ever since I signed up to run the Diva Half Marathon I’ve been telling people I’m “attempting” to run a half marathon, partially because I was convinced that running more than 5 miles was never gonna happen and partially because I have a love/hate relationship with running and spent many a training run thinking about how much I hated running. Maybe it’s the cooler weather, or maybe it’s thanks to my brief break up with running, but suddenly these runs are getting easier, I’m starting to feel stronger and ultimately more confident that I’m not just attempting to run a half, I will run it.

8 is not quite 13.1, but that gap is getting much closer.

Workout Recap

Monday: barre + run 5 miles – done
Tuesday: trapeze + uplifting strength -done (ouch!)
Wednesday barre + run 5 miles barre done
Thursday: run 8 or fhitting room Rest.
friday: uplifting strength- done
saturday: rest- done
sunday: run 8- DONE!!!!

This Week:

Monday– barre + run 5
Tuesday– uplift strength
Wednesday– barre +maybe  run 5
Thursday – TBD maybe run 5 + trapeze
Friday– uplift strength
Saturday– rest or run 9
Sunday– AQUA and possibly run 9?