Preface: I'll be posting these (semi) regularly in an attempt to stay motivated and honest to myself... You don't have to read them if you're not interested. :-)
The goal: The City of Manchester Half-Marathon on November 2nd. I started actually getting serious about training for it a month ago and went to Runner's World and set up my training plan. My long run days are Mondays (rest/cross-training days are Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I can still teach my Spinning classes), so today started off week 5 with a 6-mile run.
The last time I ran 6 miles, I hated it. It was for the Bill Kelley Memorial 10k in Manchester... in July... during rainstorms. Ugh. I also hadn't trained for it, so it was incredibly tough. I was hoping today would be different. I wasn't disappointed.
The weather today was incredible... it started off humid, but dried out by lunchtime. Nice and sunny, with a cool breeze. Perfect weather.
For the one person out there who's been wondering about this (you know who you are!), I did decide to run with my iPhone this time, after picking up an application for it that is supposed to use the built-in GPS to track distance/pace/etc. The App is "Running GyPSy" (get it: G-P-S... har!). It's WELL WORTH the cost! I also have a wrist worn Garmin GPS that I've used in the past (a Forerunner 201) that has been wonderful, but tends to cut out when signal strength is low. I went through multiple known "dead zones" for my GPS and this app never cut out on me once. There are maybe a few "gold plating" touches I would put on it, but I plan on giving the App a positive review on iTunes (and I rarely ever do that), so that says something, I suppose.
The route itself was nice. After getting through most of the uphill run, it was a nice, gentle downhill for a good chunk of it that helped me get a good amount of energy back. I managed to average a 10:31 minute mile for a 6-mile run (when I'm only supposed to be training at 11:54), so you KNOW it was a good run. :-) The only downside? The goose poop I stepped in right when I got back. $@!&# geese!!
Wednesday is an easy run at two miles, and Friday is my first "tempo run" at 5 miles with some speed work. I shouldn't be as long-winded about those two. :-)
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