Change of Plans

 Half Marathon Update

Big news!  I am officially registered for my first half marathon!!  I had been putting it off for awhile because I wanted to feel comfortable with my training.  It’s a good thing I waited though – the half marathon I registered for is not the one I’ve been training for.  That one was going to be April 23, 2011.  I’m now registered for a half marathon on March 27, 2011!

I’m really excited.  This date worked better for my running partner, and after all the training we’ve been through together, I’d really like to run my first half marathon with her.  This date should also have better weather in Houston – hopefully not so hot and humid.  Especially since it starts at 6:45 AM – yikes!

I’m going to re-write my training schedule only slightly.  After the 10k this weekend, our planned long runs before the race will now be 10, 12 and 8.  Only five weekends until half marathon weekend!!

The Run

Tonight’s run was a 4.5 mile tempo run with Maggie.  It was supposed to be just 4 miles, but it’s looking like we might not be able to get runs in Wednesday, Thursday or Friday this week, so we upped the mileage just a bit tonight.  This is supposed to be my dip week, but I don’t want to dip too much.

It was cool enough tonight, but still pretty humid.

The humidity is draining, but I think we did pretty well considering the weather.  Our splits:

• Mile 1:  10:25
• Mile 2:  9:15
• Mile 3:  9:22
• Mile 3.0 – 3.5:  9:06 pace
• Mile 3.5-4.5:  10:32
• Total:  4.5 Miles in 44:09  (9:49 average pace)

I’m going to have to learn to deal with the humidity better if I want to continue to run in Houston.  We’re spoiled during the winter, but I don’t want to be forced onto the treadmill this summer.  To me this means drinking more water and being learning to be okay if I can’t run at the same pace as I was able to in 40 degree weather.  Any other tips for running in humidity?

Stylin’

A special thanks to Amy from Juice Boxes and Crayolas for passing along the Stylish Blogger award!  I love reading about both her running adventures and the funny stories from her 5th grade students.

You’re supposed to share seven things about yourself and then pass the award onto 5 bloggers.  I actually received this award back in January (click the link to read seven things about me), but I think it’s fun, so I’ll share again.  Instead of seven things about me, you get seven things about Bailey, my puppy 🙂

1.  We adopted Bailey from the local SPCA.  We didn’t know it at the time, but she was sick with distemper.  Distemper is a neurological disease, and many puppies don’t survive it.  We are incredibly lucky that Bailey made it through, but she does have a permanent leg twitch as a result, in her back left leg.  However, her leg twitch certainly hasn’t stopped her from running and playing like a normal puppy!  This is me and Bailey the day we adopted her:

2.  We’re not sure what kind of dog Bailey is – our best guess is some kind of lab mix, but we think she might also have boxer and/or greyhound in her.  She was in a litter of 3 puppies – she was the brown one (named Nestle at the time) and there was a golden one named Butterscotch and a black one named Cadbury.  All were very cute but we were set on wanting a chocolate lab mix.

3.  Bailey likes to help me blog.  Actually, I think she kind of hates the computer because it takes away time spent with me.  Sometimes she will paw at my keyboard (she’s broken 2 keys before) and other times she will try to lay her head across the keyboard when it’s on my lap.

4.  Bailey was a pumpkin for Halloween.  We couldn’t get her to wear the hat that came with the outfit, and the pumpkin costume didn’t last very long – just long enough to take a few pictures 🙂

5.  Peanut butter is her favorite food, but when Bailey was sick I made her white rice, and she got pretty excited.  She also loves ice cubes and comes running whenever she hears the ice maker on the fridge running.  She won’t go for the ice cube if it falls on the floor, I have to hand it to her and then she runs off with it.

6.  They never last long, but Bailey loves her stuffed animals.  This dolphin was her size and lasted longer than most, but she eventually managed to eat all the stuffing out of it.  I miss the dolphin because she would drag it around everywhere with her.

7.  Bailey went on an 18+ hour car ride with us when we drove to my hometown in Ohio for Thanksgiving.  She surprisingly did extremely well in the car and slept most of the way!  For a dog with her energy level, this shocked us.

Rather than passing along the award (because I’ve already seen it on many of my favorites!), please visit my blogroll for some of my every day reads.  And if you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged to share seven things about yourself 🙂