13.1 Thursdays–The Long Run

Welcome back to 13.1 Thursdays, where you can  join me along my half-marathon training journey…

I don’t know about you, but the thought of running anything over 4 miles has always frightened me.  I’m not sure why; maybe it’s because I’ve never run any further or maybe it’s because, where I grew up, the nearest town was 8 miles away and I can’t imagine ever running that far.

Ever.

Well, this past week, I got pretty close.  I conquered my first long run!

A glorious cold front hit our region late Friday evening, so we awoke to temps in the 60s on Saturday morning.  I laced up, planned my interval training on my running app, and headed outside… and not only did I complete the run, but I felt like I could’ve run a little more!

How I did this week:

Saturday – Six miles (yeah!!!)

Sunday – Rest

Monday – Cross Training

Tuesday – Rest

Wednesday – Three Miles

I overdid it on the squats with my cross training this week and my legs were hurting on yesterday morning’s run… but I’m happy to be off the treadmill and instead be running outside.  Yay fall!  I’ll get another run in tomorrow and then no long run this Saturday – instead I’ll be joining some friends for a mud run!  (Of course I’ll take pictures!)

Running Gear I Can’t Live Without:

This week, I’m sharing my favorite running app – Runkeeper.  I love it because it tracks my mileage by GPS and it has an option to have a “coach” while you’re running.  The coach feature tells me when to start my run/walk intervals, updates me on my distance and time and it lets me know how I’m doing with my pace.  It’s a godsend. (And free!)

My Pick-Up-the-Pace Playlist

Pound the Alarm – Nikki Minaj

Blow Me (One Last Kiss) – Pink

Whistle – FloRIDA

Still haven’t played with the playlist embedding tips you shared (thanks!), so this’ll have to do for now.  Love ‘em.

 

Hope you’re having a great week, and keep sending those tips my way… especially interested in everyone’s thoughts on energy gels/chews (Gu, PowerBar, Chomps).  Which to try?!