5 weeks down 7 to go...

Another week behind me. YAY! This week I finished up with about 18.5 miles.

Training this week was pretty good. Or as good as it gets for me. Nothing feels super good yet. My legs are sore from the minute I head out until almost the end most runs. I've read a few things where it takes a good 3 months for some of the muscles and connective tissues to start feeling better. I'll let you all know if that is a bunch of BS or not.

One thing super fun that happened this week is my long weekend run included a running buddy and meeting a new Daily Mile friend. I tell ya... it's almost worth paying these people to run with me every long run day! The time went by SO fast! I had "chatted" with this girl named Elizabeth a few times on Daily Mile and I knew she was a local, beginner runner. I thought it would be LOVELY if she wanted to run together. I messaged her on Daily Mile and we set a date. It was so much fun. We decided on meeting at Liberty Park. Her run was considerably shorter than my own for the day, so I decided to run down to Liberty in order to get a few miles in before meeting her. My friend Nikki wanted to go out, so we met up and ran to the park together. It was as much fun as one can have whilst running! We all laughed and chatted and the time truly flew by. Nikki and I did almost 7 miles and finished up at the coffee shop. GREAT LONG RUN DAY!

My new world consists of Vitamin Water, spandex, fleece, bananas, peanut butter... deciding on what to eat rules most of my nights. It's crazy! I love the fact that carbs are "in". I think that is the single cool feature about running. I'm trying to think if there is any other thing that is super cool... and I'm coming up with nothing. I don't try to watch what I am eating or drinking unless it directly relates to what I am running the next day. My diet coke has quickly been replaced by water and vitamin water zero.

One of the things that I really need to start doing on these upcoming weeks is to start trying fuel. I have purchased several different types of energy snacks and I will see what ones work and what ones don't. This is crucial before the half marathon. I also want to train with my water bottle from now on. I have read a few blogs about this, and I think I really want to have something to drink as I go. I did almost 7 miles last Sunday carrying water, so I should be able to do it. I'm not sure the water belt thingy is for me.

My cousin, Rian, sent me this quote from "12 Things Happy People Do Differently". I really like it.

Commit to your goals. – Being wholeheartedly dedicated to doing something comes fully-equipped with an ineffable force. Magical things start happening when we commit ourselves to doing whatever it takes to get somewhere. When you’re fully committed to doing something, you have no choice but to do that thing. Counter-intuitively, having no option – where you can’t change your mind – subconsciously makes humans happier because they know part of their purpose.

Gear this week was almost all the same... IceBreaker merino wool pants, long sleeve fleecy lined shirt... and my Columbia vest. I wore gloves all week and half the time needed my new neck gator. It is so not fun training in the cold. I'm very much looking forward to spring and summer where I can get up early... or run later. Right now I seem to be planning my runs for the warmest part of the day.

Oh, and still only down 3 pounds. WTF is up with that? Oh well... I never started running to lose weight. Good thing, eh?

46 days until the Half. YIKES!