78.6 race miles + a few hundred in training

Yesterday I finished my 6th half-marathon, which helps me cross off one of my NYE resolutions for 2014!  (And I will be running my 7th half-marathon and potentially my last this October!)  Before, during and after every half-marathon, I always ask myself… “Why am I doing this?”  and every time I have a different answer.  Sometimes it’s because I like challenging myself, physical and mentally and other times I am trying to beat my own goal.

If you’re not a runner, or if you’re not a long distance runner, the sounds of running 13.1 miles for essentially 2-hours sounds crazy ridiculous.  But when you tack on 12-weeks of training that includes long weekend runs (10 or 11 miles) you might think that is even more crazy. Well yes, it is.  Unfortunately this race, I struggled both in training and on my actual race (because I didn’t train enough).  I am still trying to find the balance between work, life and my workout life, it has been a roller coaster this year, but I am confident and determined!

This year, the Cleveland Rite Aid 10k, Half and Full Marathon had a new route around the city – which was really great, moderate hills and a change of scenery.  However the last 3 miles down the shoreway to the finish were tough!  To add another twist on running 13.1 miles I decided a few days in advance that I would try and live tweet during my run, and I did! #emrunscle2014

I crossed the finish line at 2:14:05
Bentley finished at 2:02:39 – and he didn’t stop! I couldn’t be more proud of him!

Here are a few in case you missed them:

After every race, it is hard not to feel extremely accomplished and this race was no different! Especially when you check the time and see it’s 10:30am to realize you’ve already run 13.1 miles and finished a free beer, wouldn’t you feel accomplished? Or just me? 🙂

If you are planning to run a half marathon here is the training routine I use, it allows for a mix of running and strength training, which is VERY important. These routines also allow for a variety of levels including beginning, intermediate and advanced, even a walking program!

I hope to document my training for my upcoming race in October, although that won’t be until end of July… and I hope to be able to train better to end my half-marathon career with a bang and lucky #7.  Of course I plan to have updates before then! Much fun is looming in my future, our friends are getting married this weekend, we will be traveling to NYC for an upcoming weekend – just to name a few!

Happy Running!
xo – eb