Running...

Well I did it... I signed up for another Half Marathon at the end of September.... yikes.  I am the kind of person that needs an end goal to continue to work out on a daily basis- I need something to train for.  Maybe it is because I was an athlete for a long time and there was always something to train for... games, tournaments, races etc.  I find working out with no goal boring and eventually I just stop.  So I guess I'll just have to do a race every 3-4 months to keep me going.  I have never done a race so close to summer, where the majority of my training will be in the hot months of the summer... in Texas.  eeek.  I am thinking water is going to be my new best friend.  

For every Half I run, I pick up a new pair of running shoes to train and run the race in.  I just got my new pair, they are like running on the clouds.  I love new running shoes.  I never realize how worn out my old ones are until I put a brand new pair on.  For those of you wondering- I run in Asics Gel-Nimbus.  The new ones I got are the Gel Nimbus 13's... I have been wearing these shoes since they had gel nimbus 6's.  Love them.

First sprint day at the gym below.  Not too bad.  I do one sprint day a week... usually on Wednesdays because then I am fully recovered by Saturday's long run.  I only run quarter mile sprints.  Walk for 5 minutes, run for 5 minutes at 6mph, then .25 miles at 8 mph then I bring it down to 4mph for .10 miles, and then .25mi sprint again.  Repeat.  First sprint day this week, I did 8x .25mi sprints and then cooled down with a jog for another mile.  It felt great, and it shreds calories which we like.

Snacks that have been keeping me going...  Pistachios are my new obsession.  They are extremely addicting.  My little habit has gotten so out of control that the Jerbear bought me a couple of pistachio trees- hopefully they will produce next year.  Yogurt- I joke that we are on the Michael Weston diet around here.  (Burn Notice reference)  All four of us eat A LOT of yogurt.  Plain yogurt, yogurt with fruit, yogurt with honey, yogurt with granola, frozen yogurt, greek yogurt.... you name it we have it. 

If anyone wants to run/train with me for a Half Marathon let me know!  I'm always up for workout partners.  

I'm off to feed the Little Men some lunch, that will probably include yogurt of some sort...

Have a great weekend!

****Update****

I have had a few people ask about training schedule.  I am following week 1 this week.  I have pulled the training schedule from the book 4 Hours to a 4 Hour Marathon by Dave Kuehls, and modified it a bit to fit my needs.