WEEK 1
Monday: Think, ain’t no way I’m signing up for a race.
Tuesday: Think about how all your BGR friends will be having a girls’ weekend without you.
Wednesday: Think about how fun the post-race events will be.
Thursday: Conclude a girls’ weekend is not worth running 13.1 miles. On foot.
Friday: Doubt Thursday’s conclusion, and visit littlerockmarathon.com.
Saturday: Visit littlerockmarathon.com again.
Sunday: Decide I am going to run a half marathon, but only in order to justify girls’ weekend.
WEEK 2
Monday: Start the registration form on marathon website.
Tuesday: Think about running.
Wednesday: Finish race registration. Then think, crap I really need to train.
Thursday: Spend 30 minutes at work doing research on foods to eat before running.
Friday: Think about running.
Saturday: Run 6 miles.
Sunday: Think, I ran 6 miles yesterday!
WEEK 3
Monday: Two days ago I ran 6 miles!
Tuesday: Three days ago I ran 6 miles!
Wednesday: Four days ago I ran 6 miles!
Thursday: Thinking about running.
Friday: Get another Moving Comfort sports bra from Run On. The right gear is important.
Saturday: Stretch.
Sunday: Rest, because a week ago I ran 6 miles.
WEEK 4
Monday: Think about getting serious about training.
Tuesday: Run 3 miles. Celebrate a fresh start.
Wednesday: Run 4 miles.
Thursday: Run 2 miles.
Friday: Rest.
Saturday: Eat a cutie. Run 6 miles, and then regret eating the fruit because now I have to go to bathroom really bad, but run two more miles but only because it was dark, you didn’t know the route and didn’t want to get left behind.
Sunday: Nap like a baby because yesterday I ran 8 miles. Google pre-race food ideas again.
WEEK 5
Monday: Run 5 miles and spend 30 minutes reading Amazon reviews on the Garmin Forerunner 110 because I’m a marathon runner.
Tuesday: Rest and visit Academy to eye the Garmin watches. Worry about Saturday’s long run.
Wednesday: Run 4 miles of hills. Convince myself I can’t run 10 miles.
Thursday: Run 2 miles at work because I’m so excited my Garmin arrived.
Friday: Spend way too much money at Academy on Under Armour Cold Gear. Sabotage tomorrow mentally.
Saturday: Eat five crackers with peanut butter on top. Run 9.67 miles, because I can’t run 10 miles.
Sunday: Rest and wonder if I could have run the full 10.
WEEK 6
Monday: Gain back the confidence that I can run this week’s scheduled long run.
Tuesday: Run 4 miles down the boardwalk on a business trip in Miami. Get dehydrated.
Wednesday: Drink water. Run 4.5 miles down the boardwalk in Miami.
Thursday: Pump myself up for Saturday.
Friday: Mantra: If I can almost run 10, I can run 11.
Saturday: Drink a Gatorade prime thingy and wonder if R&D tasted it first. Run 11 miles. Plan to get some new shoes from Run On.
Sunday: Rest think “hot doggety, I ran 11 miles.”
WEEK 7
Monday: Cross train at a Crossfit trial class. Tell everyone I’m training for a half marathon.
Tuesday: Rest and recoup very very sore arms.
Wednesday: Run 4 miles of hills.
Thursday: Rest.
Friday: Wonder if I can run 8 miles faster than 3 weeks ago.
Saturday: Eat the prime Gatorade chews. Run 8 miles and feel good.
Sunday: Rest. Gloat at improved running pace and the fact I’ve lost 10 pounds.
WEEK 8
Monday: Run 4 miles at a great pace.
Tuesday: Rest.
Wednesday: Run 4 miles of hills. In the dark. In the cold and then head to New Orleans for the Super Bowl.
Thursday: Plan to run 4 miles, but only run 2 because I was on a treadmill. And I hate running on a treadmill.
Friday: Do 45 minutes of hotel room kick boxing and then eat horribly, deliciously tasty Cajun food.
Saturday: Skip my first Saturday long run in a month.
Super Bowl Sunday: Run 2.5 miles along Canal St in downtown New Orleans. Cheer the Ravens to victory.
WEEK 9
Monday: Return home and glare at the scale’s results. Gain 1.5 pounds from Nola food. Run 7.5 miles to make up for missing Saturday’s long run.
Tuesday: Rest. Eat rabbit food to detox.
Wednesday: Run 4 miles of hills in downtown Austin. With my senior vice president. At a 9:45 pace and almost pass out.
Thursday: Definitely rest and drink lots of green drink.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Run 10 miles.
Sunday: Rest, because didn’t you read, I ran TEN miles yesterday!
WEEK 10
Monday: Run 4 miles at my fastest pace ever and appreciate my breakthrough in Austin. Feel a slight pull in my right hamstring.
Tuesday: Do push ups, situps and lunges in the morning. Stretch my hamstring. A lot.
Wednesday: Rest. Miss hills training because Hubby was out of town. Stretch a lot.
Thursday: Run 4 miles on Valentine’s evening.
Friday: Do push ups, situps and lunges in the morning. Stretch a lot.
Saturday: Sleep in through the long run.
Sunday: Totally regret sleeping in, and run 8 miles by myself. Ugh.
WEEK 11
Monday: Take another crossfit class and get excited for box jumps. Buy new Brooks running shoes.
Tuesday: Focus on strength training to prevent injuries. Do push ups, situps and lunges with hand weights in the morning.
Wednesday: Run 4 miles of hills. In the dark. In the cold. And then stretch.
Thursday: Do push ups, situps and lunges in the morning. Stretch.
Friday: Do push ups, situps and lunges in the morning. Stretch.
Saturday: Run 6 miles and feel really, really good.
Sunday: Rest. Finally lose the weight I gained in New Orleans.
WEEK 12 – RACE WEEK!
Monday: Run 3 windy, windy miles. Start to get excited.
Tuesday: Do push ups, situps and lunges in the morning.
Wednesday: Run 4 miles of hills. In the dark. In the cold. And then stretch. Total half marathon training mileage: 148 miles. That’s the equivalent of 600 laps on a track. Thursday: Paint my nails race colors and pack.
Friday: Take the bus to Little Rock with my team of 17 runners and write this post.
Saturday: Rest and carb load. See the other 11,000 runners at the race expo picking up their race bibs.
Sunday: Plan to run 13.1 miles in under 2.5 hours.
Congrats on your race!