Hayley Lyons' marathon journal: Running a half, plus

Week 10

Photos by Ben Wade for scrunners.com

Intro:  I’ve definitely got the marathon bug!  I haven’t even run my first marathon yet, and I’m already looking for another to do.  I haven’t run more than 14 miles, which means there are still six more miles to run before the race and 12 more miles during the race.  So, yeah, looking for another one at this point might be a little over-zealous, but I’m just having SO MUCH fun.

I am the happiest I’ve ever been with my running, and it’s not necessarily because of performance.  I think that what I’m enjoying so much is that I’m running strictly for me, forcing myself to enjoy each mile as it comes.  I’ve been really focusing on my environment and surroundings, letting my eyes wander away from the watch more than I used to.

This weekend, I am driving back to Greenville to run in the Spinx Run Fest half-marathon.  I will be running the 13.1, plus an additional .9 to reach my goal mileage for my long run.  The weekday mileage is the same as last week’s, when it increased to two 4-milers, two 7-milers, and one day off.

Monday:  4 miles.

Even though I got my mileage in last week, I definitely felt stiff this morning from not running two days in a row over the weekend.  I also think that the lack of sleep has finally caught up to me!  It took a lot of convincing to get myself out the door, but bribing myself with grits and scrambled eggs did the trick. 

Tuesday:  7 miles.

During my run this morning, a man and son on bicycles swerved in front of me, and the man instantly lit a cigarette.  Because of traffic, I couldn’t move to the other side of the street to move out of the way, so I was stuck running through his exhaled cigarette smoke for almost two miles.  It was literally unbearable.  I consider myself a friendly runner and a morning person, so it’s unusual for me to do anything but smile and wave to people in the morning.  The smoke was making breathing really difficult.  

I tried to cross the street, but almost got wiped out by a pick-up, so that was a no-go.  I even tried loudly coughing, as a hint (and I have a bad cold, so this should have been convincing), but all he did was look back in disgust at my cough…and light another cigarette.  Rude, rude, rude.  It’s not illegal for him to smoke outside, but he could have at least let me pass; I actually felt like he was doing in on purpose because he and his son kept laughing!—but I’ll quit venting.

At last, there was an opening in traffic, and I sprinted ahead of the smoking biker.  As annoyed as I was with the whole situation, I cut 30 seconds off of my 7-mile times from last week, so, uh…thanks, I guess?

Wednesday:   4.5 miles.

I have a terrible cold.  This run was difficult.

Thursday:  Off.

Friday:  7 miles.

I’m still sick—hoping to be better in time for tomorrow’s race!

Saturday:  15 miles.

I ran in Greenville’s Spinx Run Fest this morning.  To get my mileage in, I ran a half-mile before the race and 1.5 after.  It was such a fun race for so many reasons.   First, several of my friends from Clemson, two of them being old sorority sisters, were running the race as well.  For one of them, it was her first half-marathon ever!  

At around mile 10, my brother met me to give me a Gu.  I’ve never had one, and I know that race day isn’t the time to start experimenting, but I was treating it as a training run anyway.  I was only supposed to run 14,but I ended up getting 15 miles in—a new personal record.  The Gu helped so much that I stocked up after the race for future long runs! 

After the race, I went to get brunch at Tommy’s Ham House with my family, and I got my favorite: sweet potato pancakes.  So.  Good.

I ran in the Spinx Run Fest last year, and, this year, I ended up cutting more than four minutes off my previous time.  It wasn’t a PR, but I was proud to have improved on the course, even with the added mileage.

I didn’t realize how much I missed Greenville since I moved; it was nice to get the grand tour of my hometown!

Sunday:  Off.

Total:  37.5 miles.

Conclusion:  I had an awful cold all week, so I didn’t enjoy running as much as I usually do, but this is the most mileage I’ve gotten in one week since training for the marathon.  I’ve had three weeks of long runs/increased mileage, so this upcoming week will be a step-back week.