The Detroit International Half-Marathon (called "international" because the course loops into Canada) is in one month and one day. I can hardly believe it. I'm going to race again, and soon.
Usually when I train for a half-marathon I like to have at least one 15-miler under my belt. I'm not sure that's going to happen this time. As of right now, I haven't run more than 8 miles at once.
This makes me nervous enough that I asked Darren if he thought it was really a good idea for me to do this race. After all, the California International Marathon six weeks later is my real goal race. I don't want to do anything to distract from that fact, and if staying home and just going for a longer run the weekend of the half would serve me better, I wanted him to know I was willing to forgo the race. Darren, however, thinks doing the half is a good idea. He said it will be a good gauge of my fitness for CIM.
This is exciting to me because not only does he think I'll be ready for it (at least on some level), his answer implies he will want me to actually race it, and not just treat it like a training run. As we get closer, I know he'll share details of what he thinks my pace and race strategy should be. Until then, I just have to keep my faith in him (the man knows whereof he speaks!)...and of course execute the workouts he gives me.
These workouts are getting harder!
Two weeks ago I had my first "all-running, no-recumbent bike" week, and there's been no looking back. My training now features six days in a row of running, with a day totally off on Sunday. Tomorrow I have a real gut-buster of a combo hill-and-fartlek workout. Wednesday I have a mid-week semi-long run. And on Saturday I have a 90-minute progression run that I'm hoping will be my first 9-miler in a long time. All the workouts have precise instructions on heart rate ranges. So far I'm finding this heart-based training much easier to stick with than pace-based training has been for me in the past. And I try not to despair seeing how S-L-O-W I must go to keep my heart rate down for the easy runs.
I may not be doing any 15-milers, but I'm truly enjoying this training and feeling good. I just hope it's "half-marathon-in-a-month" good!
