2 weeks to go!! New Orleans Rock & Roll Half!!!

Training for the week went like this:

Monday - CrossFit (4 rounds for time, 400m Sandbag Carry 25lb, 12 Push Press 45lb bar, 12 Box Jumps, 12 SDHP 45lb bar)
Tuesday - Rest (I actually went to work then had a date with my lovely hubby for Valentine's Day!)
Wednesday - CrossFit (15:00 AMRAP, 5 Wall Climbs, 10 Double Unders, 15 KB Swings 35lb)
Thursday - 6 miles
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Snowman Stampede 10 miler
Sunday - (I'm planning to rest.)

So, not much maintenance running, two days of crossfit, but it all seems to be falling into place despite my best efforts to not train. :-)

Technically, I have one more training week and one week of taper, hydration, and rest. I'm planning to go back to work next week after a two month sabbatical. That may, or may not, make getting the maintenance runs in easier. I'm not going to stress about it. I can get 30-60 minutes in on the treadmill if I need to. I still need to get into my next crossfit classes.

The Snowman Stampede was the 3rd in a series of winter races. I ran the 10K in December. I was registered for the 10 mile in January but missed it because my mother was still in the hospital. Today was another 10 miler, my first ever as a race. I really had no doubt I'd finish. I just wasn't sure how painful it would be. Thanks to my running partner, who also runs with me on long runs with the club, I managed to have a pretty good day. We ran a slow comfortable pace as our goals were the same - to finish. She had just run a half marathon the weekend before so wasn't sure how she'd feel either. We also met up with a new friend we both met at the 10K back in December. We all run about the same pace which is so nice, especially on these long runs.

There were definitely two halves to the race. The first half went as expected for me. It took me the usual 2-3 miles to warm up but once I did I settled in for the duration. I didn't carry a fanny pack, which I usually do. I only carried one pack of sport beans which fit in the pocket of my new running skirt. That was a good test for the up coming half as well. There were three aid stations for this distance, at about 3 miles, the turn around point, and about 7 miles. That seemed to work well for me. Those were the only times we took walk breaks. At the turn around point (the second half of the race) we walked for a couple of minutes to rest and stretch our legs a bit. That worked well for me too. After that we just tried to maintain a comfortable pace to the end.

With about 2 miles to go, my bra started rubbing against my skin painfully. Everything else felt pretty good though. I had some hip pain but not enough to worry me. I tried to focus on my stride and make sure I was stretching out enough and not swaying my hips. That worked and also took my mind off the distance for a little while. With one mile to go I just wanted to be done so I picked up the pace a bit to try to finish strong. The last stretch was a muddy uphill to the finish line. I ran up the hills without any trouble and felt strong doing it. I felt tired once I hit the top but that was ok. I finished strong crossing the timing mat. Woot! I was so glad to be done!! And it was such a positive mental boost for my next goal in New Orleans. Woo hoo!!

2 weeks to go!