Half Marathon Training: Week Eight

I have eaten too many Girl Scout cookies.

The alignment with the end of my training and the delivery of Girl Scout cookies couldn’t have been any more on point.  Luckily I have someone to share them with me and that same someone is trying to run a half marathon, too!

Hmmm.  Remember last week when I said I probably wasn’t paying enough attention to my nutrition?  Well it got worse with the Girl Scout cookies but I think deciding not to run outside in the freezing cold helps keep me healthy (and maybe a little stir crazy) as well.

Ever since starting to run outside a few weeks ago I have enjoyed it much more than running circles on the indoor track or running in place on a treadmill.  You could say I was getting spoiled with the “ok” weather that was good enough to run outside in.  Well, on Sunday, it was about 30 degrees and the wind was going at a 16 MPH clip.  No thanks.

Slight problem, however, we had to do our long run on Sunday.  Eleven miles.  Eleven miles on the indoor track while watching high school girls play some AAU basketball.  It could have been worse in any number of ways: an empty field house with nothing to look at, a treadmill, or not doing it at all.

I realized, also, that this running is testing my patience (or lack thereof).   I have always been one who will try to get things done in the fastest, most efficient way possible.  I don’t like wasting time and I’m not a procrastinator.  With running that long, there is really no fast way to do it.  So I have been learning to just get it done.

Someone asked me on Monday (after the 11 miles), “What were your thoughts when you started on that first lap?”  That’s a funny question because, seriously, what WAS I thinking?  I guess I was just thinking, “Wow, when I finally stop running I will have run for two hours.”

It’s kind of something cool for me to try to apply to my life.  Maybe once I put my mind to something (like a career I hope) I will just have to know that at the end of my journey I will have reached my goal, if I just keep going.  At the beginning of anything sometimes everyone wonders just HOW they are going to finish it but this running thing has given me the belief that if you just keep going it WILL get done.  It just will.

Thoughts of the week:

Running 77 laps on an indoor track isn’t ideal but it’s doable.

Maybe next time I train for a half marathon I’ll check the schedule of Girl Scout cookie deliveries.

After finishing running eleven miles you probably won’t be able to walk normally.  But with some water, nutrients, stretching, and about two hours the walking process will come back to you.

I’ve always worn cutoffs while working out but chaffing can be a big problem if a workout lasts longer than an hour, especially with the same movements so I have switched to t-shirts.  A fellow runner has also suggested “Body Glide” to me but I haven’t had enough of a problem with it to invest the eight dollars in it.

Danielle Clark

About Danielle Clark

I am 28 years old and for 5 years out of college I played basketball for a living. I was a professional basketball player in Europe so I spent most of my years there and came back to Maine for summers and a couple weeks at Christmas time. I thought my years there would open my eyes to what I want to be when I "grow up." That didn't happen. I have discovered, however, that I just have to try something. Just do things and toss myself into them. I have currently tossed myself into being a college basketball assistant coach and one on one reading tutor. I grew up in Corinna, Maine and have been a resident Mainer. I love sports, reading, writing, cooking, baking, watching movies... everything. I have lots of hobbies and not enough time in the day!