Training Plan & the Struggle Bus

One of the roadblocks I have always had while training for a half is how daunting 13.1 miles sounds to run - all at one. A friend said to me once "so that's running for over 2 hours straight...you realize that right?" - well that sounds super fun. Not. That actually sounds heinous to me!

So the mind game I have to constantly play is tricking myself into NOT thinking of it like that. Set out a plan, get my miles in for the day & focus on the week ahead. Be proud of what I have accomplished and not freak out over the work ahead.

Yesterday was one of those days where I had to convince myself to just put one foot in front of the other and move my ass. After a long day at the office, I was tired mentally. I was a little stressed. It was the final Blues hockey game. It was Wednesday before a long holiday weekend. It was hot out (no, it was not but I was justifying my 'not today' argument). Truth be told - I wanted to put on yoga pants, pour a glass of wine & lay on the couch. Truth.

After tossing around my options in my mind for a good 30 minutes and lots of pouting to my husband. I decided to just suck it up buttercup, throw on my Brooks & hop on the treadmill.
After getting my 3 wee miles on the treadmill I felt great, relaxed, more energized & centered. And - I was happy to have a glass of wine guilt free :)

In the spirit of keeping it real, I fully admit during my run my mind was also racing - I couldn't stop thinking that WOW if I am struggling this early in - how am I going to feel when I have an 8 mile run, a 10 mile run, etc.  The more I thought it over - I am just going to have to do it. A friend put a comment on my IG account regarding the struggle of getting my run in - "No Excuses. Play like a champion." So this will have to be my new mantra - NO EXCUSES!

My other thought is - damn I need to learn how to be a "wake and run" kind of girl. I have always preferred running later in the day but - living in St Louis - it gets muggy as fuck in the summer. Like terrible awful humidity. So I am either going to have to run in the AM or research running in the humidity. And just do it - No excuses :)

Here is my training plan I am following....

Right now I have to focus on the first few weeks and not look ahead and freak out about the Saturday runs in my future. No excuses, right!