Training Has Begun!

Well last week marked the first official week of the fall half marathon training season for me! Me and my friend Paige are training a group of ladies to run one of our favorite races (this will be my 4th year running this race)...the Gulf Coast Half Marathon in Mandeville, LA! Saturday was our first long run of 7 miles!

We were all super excited! I got our route all mapped out and we had a water stop all set to go. But then Friday things started to go downhill. The weather was not looking too promising for Saturday morning. There was an 85% chance of thunderstorms at the time we were supposed to run. And it was supposed to rain all day. We went to bed with the promise to make a call about an hour before the run time on whether we would run or reschedule.

Well guess what I woke up to? No, not my alarm.....thunder and lightning! I immediately checked my phone and had several texts and emails. The radar looked like the thunderstorms would clear after that storm. So we delayed the run by an hour.

Because so many of the ladies didn't want to chance it there were only 3 of us that showed up to run...me, Paige, and Donna. Paige's boyfriend Billy was there too riding his bike (and being our bodyguard and photographer!).

The run started out great. It was not raining although there were storm clouds in the sky. We had to dodge and run through puddles. But we were determined to get in our 7 miles!

Paige and Donna were doing a run/walk so I ended up running ahead and on my own for the majority of the run. Billy said I was giving him a good workout since he was riding back and forth between us to check on us!

Here I am around mile 3! I was feeling great! And yes I am holding a ziploc bag in my hand! I had my phone in there in case it started raining! ;-)

You can see how wet the roads were. They weren't slippery but I had to watch for puddles. I tried to go around the puddles as much as I could but there were a few times I had to run through them due to traffic.

At mile 4.5 I stopped at Billy's truck for water. He had a water cooler and cups in the back of his truck. The water was still cold and tasted so good!

Almost done!

I didn't waste much time at the water stop. I only had 2.5 more miles to go! I entered the neighborhood that I run in about twice a week. I only had to run about half of it before I turned around. I was still feeling good and I could tell that my pace was picking up a bit. My legs seemed to know that I was almost done! I made the turn around, made it back out of the neighborhood, and then I saw Paige, Billy, and Donna! We cheered for each other as we passed.

Then I saw a biker coming my way. He gave me a thumbs up sign and that was just the push I needed! I started running faster. And then I saw something on the sidewalk that scared me to death! It was a crawfish! And he had his claws out and raised at me like he was fussing at me! Lol!

Luckily I was almost done after seeing that little guy! My heart rate was high lol!

I did it! 7 miles! It had been awhile since I'd run past 6.2! My legs and body felt great the entire run!

And then I looked at my Garmin and was amazed! My average pace for this run was 10:00!!! I couldn't believe I had run 7 miles at that pace! I usually average around 10:30-11 for long runs!

I was thankful for such a great run!

QOTD: Have you ever surprised yourself with how fast you ran?

Rainy Run Day!

Saturday the plan was to run 6 miles with Holly. We've been enjoying our long runs together and we were both excited about running again this weekend. The forecast called for rain but it was only a 30% chance at the time we would be running.

I went to bed at a decent hour on Friday night. But around midnight Hayden came into my room and scared me to death! I was in a deep sleep! As soon as I saw him I knew something was wrong...and I said a quick prayer it wasn't the stomach bug (it's amazing how that thing always hits in the middle of the night). I was relieved when he told me what was wrong...he was only coughing and wanted some cough medicine. I was able to fall back asleep pretty quickly after that.

My alarm went off and I got up. I immediately checked my phone and had a text from Holly saying there was rain on the radar, our other friends had cancelled their run (which was an hour and a half earlier than ours), and she was going back to bed.  I checked my radar...it had light green rain but the hourly forecast showed only a 10% chance. I looked out the window...no rain. I decided to go back to bed anyway.

I laid there for about 10 minutes. I couldn't go back to sleep. And my mind kept telling me to run. The forecast for tomorrow morning had even a greater chance of rain so this would be my only chance to run. Plus...I just really wanted to run! So I got back up, got dressed, and headed out.

I made sure the hubby's ringer was turned on in case I got stuck in a thunderstorm. I put my phone in a ziploc bag to protect it from water. I grabbed my old ear buds in case I got rained on and the water ruined them. I had a plan to run at least 5 miles if I could. I was ready to run in the rain!

The first mile was dry. It was cloudy and there were puddles everywhere (from earlier rain) but so far so good! The temperature was right at 73° so it felt wonderful! And then I started feeling a drop or two of rain. Eventually the drops came down at a steady pace...but it was only a light rain thank goodness!

Around mile 2.5 I saw my friends Gina and Angela! They were at mile 13 of 16 miles (training for the Chicago Marathon)! They were running strong! It was great to see them!

The run felt great! And the rain didn't bother me a bit! Normally if I'm going to be running in the rain I will wear a visor, but I forgot it. Luckily the rain didn't get in my eyes too bad.

I was wearing my water belt so I kept reminding myself to drink water so I wouldn't get dehydrated. Even though the air was cool I knew I still needed to drink water. Normally I would stop about halfway and take a short water break but I didn't stop at all during this run. I just kept sipping as I was running.

At mile 4 I decided I was going to run the full 6 that I had planned to run with Holly. I was already soaking wet and there wasn't any thunder so another mile wouldn't hurt!

Not one time did I feel tired during this run! I felt great the whole time! Maybe I should wish for rain for every run lol! ;-)

The only thing that bothered me during this run was my ear buds! They kept falling out of my ears!!! I'm not sure if it was because they were wet or what. But I know I will never wear those again for a run!

I was also excited that I wasn't the only one out running in the rain! I saw 10 other runners out that morning and a group of bikers! I'm not the only crazy one lol!

I'm so glad I went ahead and got up and ran that morning! I always enjoy running in the rain!

QOTD: Do you like to run in the rain?