This week marks the half-way point of my training for the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon.  Things have been going really well since The Laminator stepped in as my virtual coach.  I had one of the best long runs of my life last weekend, nine miles holding at a pace 30 seconds per mile faster than my last half.  I was feeling awesome and confident I can actually hold that or better as a new race pace for long distances.   Considering I’m only half-way there, I still have 8 weeks to make sure that happens, or perhaps improve upon that a little more.

I’ve also forayed into running two days in a row, and I’m seeing improvement there too.  I had been avoiding running on two consecutive days since my bout of issues with my IT band.  I’ve now been religiously using a foam roller, and I haven’t felt a single twinge (knock on wood), and have successfully done some mileage on back to back days.  I know this is something I’m going to have to get into in order to have a successful marathon training program – so I’m glad to get used to it now before the mileage ramps up even more.

Gels have also become a big issue for me an training, one in which I’m positive I spend way too much time thinking about.  Before this training cycle, I had only ever had one gel…a PowerBar Vanilla, and it was not a good experience.  All I can think about when I mention gels is old, warm, yogurt.  I had been using Clif Shot Bloks, which I like for taste, but they take way too long to get down, and require more water, so it always felt like stuff was sloshing around in my stomach.  I decided I didn’t really want to go down the Shot Blok route on a permanent basis, so stocked up on a bunch of different brands and flavors of gels to test out.  I’ve now taken a PowerBar tangerine (totally nasty), a GU Lemon Lime (ok), and a Clif Shot Raspberry (best so far).  I think my PowerBar issue is with the brand in general, not just the vanilla flavor – they are just way too runny for my liking.  Clif Shots it is.

I’m happy Daylight Savings time is here.  Since I’m an evening runner (for now), I get an extra hour after work before it gets dark, which means no more treadmill for me an extra day of the week!  Because of my MBA class schedule, I’ll still be hitting the treadmill for tempo/intervals, but the other day the treadmill and Prison Break re-runs will be unplugged!  I am THRILLED about that.  While I’m really thankful I have a treadmill, and I don’t mind running on it as much as most people, it’s still a lot more enjoyable to get some fresh air and run outside.

On a side note, I’m now officially registered for the Baltimore 10 Miler.  It looks like a fun race – and one of the few 10 mile races around.  There is free beer at the finish of this one, which at first I was excited about, but then I realized it will be around 9:30 A.M. when I reach the finish line.  Considering that’s earlier than I get up period most Saturday mornings (which will change once it gets hot and I need to get in a run), I’m not sure how interested I will be in beer at that point, but I suppose it’s still a nice race amenity .

Happy running

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