Okay, okay, I’ve been a terrible blogger. But now that I’m actually kind of half marathon training again, I’d like to keep up with how my runs are going, which means I need to make blogging a priority again. So here’s a quick recap on the past couple months: running has sucked.

Jonathan and I went to Europe (the Netherlands and Germany) for a couple weeks in September. Things started off well. My first run overseas was in Vodelpark in Amsterdam and Jonathan ran with me. It was speedy, it was fun. I ran 9 minute miles. All was good.

My next run was a 7 miler, in prep for what I hoped to be an October half marathon (I was thinking maybe the Go Commando half since I’ve enjoyed the 5k). I did that in Cologne and it went very well, below an 11 min/mi average.

I did one more run that first week, a little two miler, but fatigue from all the walking was starting to catch up and it was a little harder, although my pace was still good.

And then I didn’t run again for a week.

A lot of that was because we had no time. We had trains to catch and sightseeing to do and nude spas to experience (just ask me about that). So when I was finally able to put in a 5k run around the English Garden in Munich, I was beat. It was hard.

After returning to the US, I had several rough runs. I was only doing 1-2 runs a week, which didn’t help, but most of my notes on these runs say stuff like, “Why is running so hard all of a sudden??” I knew an October half was probably not in the cards, so at the beginning of October I just started training for the half I was signed up for in December.

My legs, for the most part, felt fine; it was my breathing that was causing me issues. I decided that I would run all my long runs for this half with intervals, just to make sure that I would be able to manage the distance. After the half is over, I can start focusing back on speed.

So I ran my first three long runs — 6, 7.5, and 8.5 milers — with 2:1 intervals. They went okay. I was trying to do three shorter runs during the week, but usually just got in one or two. On my last long run, a 10 miler, I switched the intervals to 3:1.5, but this run was much harder on me, so I might go back to the 2:1.

My worst run, however, was one Wednesday when I joined up with the East Nasty group for their weekly run. I started okay. Ran steady for the first mile or so. And then around the 3 mile mark, I started getting chest pain. It felt like my heart was beating erratically, so I slowed to a walk. I didn’t say anything to the girls I was running with as they had already moved on ahead of me, so I just took my time, trying to run when I could, but mostly walking to the end of that torturous four miles. It hasn’t happened again, thankfully. I’ve been trying to take it slow ever since.

Here’s to hoping I can eventually get back to where I was! Jonathan and I are going to start up another round of 21 Day Fix this month, so we’ll see if that helps at all.

Hey, an actual weekly update that covers just one week!

Not that I did anything crazy this week, but it was my highest mileage week since early February, which is pretty terrible considering it was only 22 miles.

Let’s just repeat, “I will not be PRing this half.”

Monday: 4.6 miles (11:21 avg pace)
Tuesday: strength training – legs
Wednesday: 4 miles (11:38 avg pace)
Thursday: rest day
Friday: rest day
Saturday: Purity Dairy Dash 5k and 10k (10:13 avg pace for both combined)
Sunday: 4 miles (11:32 avg pace)

I’m just going to start by saying that summer is officially here! I basically began heat training this week, so hopefully soon I won’t feel like I’m suffocating when running outdoors. I forget exactly how long it takes to not feel like that.

I say this because both Wednesday’s and Sunday’s runs were done in temps above 80. Which is awesome weather…if you’re not running. My first two miles on Wednesday were done around 10-10:30. But, as you can tell by my average, the last two miles did not go so well. There were uphills in those two miles and uphill in the first 80 degree run of the year is not good. On Sunday, I stupidly went out at 1pm, so it was like the hottest part of the day and the sky was clear, with the sun making it feel hotter. So I stuck with 3:1 intervals. I wasn’t even going to attempt straight running in that yet.

I’ll have a race report up for the Dairy Dash soon. That was my speed work for the week (and most of it wasn’t that speedy).

I’m very happy that my spring races are almost over. I’m a little burnt out and ready to dial it back a notch (says the girl who has only had two weeks over 20 miles in the past two months).

Yeah, yeah, I haven’t posted about my progress much. It’s been kind of slow going. I’m finally coming out of my slump (thank goodness), although now it’s starting to warm up which is inevitably going to slow me a little.

As you can see, for the past three weeks, I cut my running down to 3x a week. I think I’m finally ready to move that back up to 4x for a little while.

I’ve also been trying to do more strength training on my legs, glutes, and hips (marked as “legs”) and also introducing some plyometrics (marked as “plyo”) into my routine. That first week back of doing strength training was rough. I don’t think I’ve ever been that sore. Everyone at work was asking what was wrong because of how slow I was moving. I think it is helping though.

I did go do one track workout in the past few weeks, but with all the races, I haven’t been too focused on doing speed work.

As you may have guessed, I don’t really have a plan for Kentucky Derby now. While I knew trying for sub-2:10 was lofty, I think it’s even loftier now, so I’m just going to see how I feel that morning and run it as best I can.