Working towards 2:15 half. Comments welcome

NurseRunner

Mouseketeer
Joined
Dec 31, 2015
So I have gone back and forth for a while now as to whether or not I want to document my training for my various races throughout the year. I have been running for about 5 years now, I started running as a healthy way to deal with stress while I attended nursing school. It was around graduation time that I looked at my then girlfriend(now wife) and asked if I was crazy for considering racing in a local half marathon that was about 5 months in the future. She was fully supportive, which was amazing as the furthest I had run in that time was around 3 miles. Long story short, I completed it, in 3:29, and an addiction was born. I have since completed 11 half marathons, and 1 competitive 10k. I've improved my time significantly, given my limited time to train(as I have since been working towards my nurse pracitioner degree and license), at least from my perspective. My current PR for the half is 2:58:56, which I achieved this past september. I am currently signed up for the WDW half this coming January and the Dark Side challenge in April. I have a few other local races I am thinking of signing up for, but haven't raised the funds yet to sign up. I am hoping that this journal can inspire me to get more regular with my training runs, and hopefully elicit some feedback, as my long term goal is a 2:15 half marathon, though I realize this may take me some time to achieve. Comments are welcome!
 




Thank you for all the support! This week I have not gotten much running in, I had OSCE examinations the past two days. But my reward tonight is a local running shoe store has a weekly wednesday run that I'm going to attend. Open ended mileage, but I think 4 is sufficient for a wednesday. My last run was also 4 on Sunday, as kind of a "I need to destress about these flippin exams!". Other than that I will try to get in a 6 miler on this coming sunday. I have my clinic rotations Tomorrow and Friday, and Working on Saturday. Hope everyone's week is off to a fantastic start!
 
So wednesday night's run was...intersting. We ran along a canal in town, so it was mostly gravel, and happened right at sunset...That being said I came just a tad short of 4 miles at 3.77. I was gunning for 4, but got a little lost near the turn around so I just headed back. It felt a little straining, and my Garmin app hissed at me a bit saying I was mostly in zone 4 for heart rate. It was mildly discouraging until I did my sunday run. I made up for the lost mileage on Wednesday with a 6.30 mile run, and spent most of my time in zone 3! It was noticeably cooler on sunday as well, being that I ran in the morning(which is far cooler in the desert in october). I won't be able to make the wednesday night run this week, but they are doing one on Thursday that is touted as a "trail run". I've not done one of these, so I was wondering if my road shoes would be sufficient for this? I run right now in Saucony Guide's, until I can replace the hurricanes I was running in before. I do work this weekend, so I will be time limited on sunday for what I can do as a long run, as I go in at 11am.

Times this past week
3.77 miles in 51:36
6.30 miles in 1:27:02
 
I did a trail run with my running group this summer and wore my regular shoes. For an occasional thing they are fine! I can see how doing them frequently would warrant different shoes though!
 
I did a trail run with my running group this summer and wore my regular shoes. For an occasional thing they are fine! I can see how doing them frequently would warrant different shoes though!
That's what I was thinking but I wanted to make sure. I wasn't able to make the local group's wednesday night run, but they do a trail run tonight and I am not working, so I figured I'd try it. I'm told trail running is good for building endurance.
 
Trail run was fun! Time was lousy but for parts of it I was pretty much climbing a vertical flight of stairs, or so it seemed. Definitely will go back again whenever time permits. It ended up being 3.3 miles along the trail, so that was my run for Thursday. Had clinic on Friday, and then worked this past weekend, but managed to get in a quick 2 miler in on Sunday and then another 4 today. Noticing it is easier the more frequently I am able to run, so hopefully will be able to keep this pace going. I’ve only got one more semester of clinic rotations to go before boards, at which point my schedule should get easier(around May), very much looking forward to that. I also signed up for a half on December 9th, as somewhat of a shakedown for the WDW half in January.

I am developing a list of questions for you all who are following along as well, as I’m starting to take this running more seriously these days, given it’s myriad of benefits. More to come, thanks for following along!
 
I’ve been slacking on the updates, but I am in the midst of finals week so I am giving myself a little less grief over it. I have a race next Sunday, where the low is forecasted at 47, and I do not feel prepared for the cold! Haha.

So lately I have been running in Saucony Guide 10s, since I noticed my hurricanes were getting a little worn out. But that in itself was not fun, I missed the cushion too much, so I went back to the hurricanes and have begun bargain hunting for a new pair...only to find out that the 4s will be out soon, so it is becoming a decision to make. Do I wait it out and make the leap in the new year to the new model, or get another pair now and wait on the 4s.

I looked at my strava this year and surpassed 200 miles running, so that’s exciting, as I’ve not done that before.

Had a question come up. Lately I have noticed some mild pain right in the middle of my shins when I initially start a run, and it usually goes away if I stop and massage it a little, then continue on. Is there a way that I can stretch or something that I haven’t done before to prevent this from starting altogether? It is fine for me to stop a training run and massage for a minute or so, but in a race the clock doesn’t stop like my watch can. Any tips are more than welcome. Hope everyone had a fantastic thanksgiving!
 

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