Half-marathon selections!

So I have found three half-marathons that I am considering.

1. Quad Cities. I have run this before, and it's a nice course. I wouldn't have to pay for a hotel because my grandparents live in the area. It's only $40 to register, which is really good, and I love the post-race refreshments (pizza, hot dogs... :D). The only downside is that I would only have 16 weeks to train, whereas I would have 20 or 21 weeks with the two races below.

2. Des Moines. It's in-state, and I've never done a half-marathon in Iowa before. I could stay at my friend's dorm at Drake (I assume) the night before, so again, free lodging. My dad did the full marathon a couple years ago and said it was pretty nice. And it is in October, which gives me 4 more weeks of training than Quad Cities would, but it costs $15 more.

3. On the Road for Education (Mason City). My dad is running this full marathon, so I could tag along with him and run the half. My only concern is that it would be really small. I sort of like medium-sized races best. I don't know how much it costs. But one huge perk is that it is the Sunday of my school's fall break, so I wouldn't have to worry about homework that weekend.

I'm back. I think.

I haven't updated this since January. I know. Shame on me. I don't know if anyone even looks at this anymore, it's been so long. But I think I'm finally over the hill with this tendonitis thing. My knee has been doing better and I'm starting to gain back (a little) of my speed. Since January, I've gained about 12-15 pounds and lost a lot of fitness, so it's been a struggle the last couple months to get back to where I was probably a year and a half or even two years ago.

I need to set some goals for myself, now that I am able to run 3-4 miles easily, about 5 times a week. That's how my weekly miles should be, 3-4 miles, and I should be able to start running longer on the weekends (and that is very exciting).

So I need to find a fall half-marathon (because I am determined to run another one; I haven't run a half since last April!). I need to come up with a training schedule. I've been keeping a notebook this week to keep track of my runs: my route, my splits, etc. I've been doing pretty even splits, too, which is new! I need to send my Garmin in and have it fixed because it keeps getting WAY off on time, so I've been using just a regular watch-stopwatch and that's been nice.

Today I am going to go half-marathon shopping online and try to find one I can train for. In the short-term, I am going to try to work on my 3-mile pace because I want to do well on the 4th of July 5k in town (I doubt I will be able to do an 8k comfortably by then). I'm excited. This knee is finally starting to work itself out! :D

I also need to change the header on this blog. It's past May 16, I didn't wind up training for the Green Bay marathon... so that needs to change, for sure.

But most of all, I need to shower. 70 degrees (at 6:30 am!) and 99% humidity means very sweaty. (And by the way, 6:30 is late for me now. During the week, I work from 7 to 3:30 at my new job, so I get up to run at 4:30 just like my dad does. It's crazy early, but it's always cooler and very pretty!)

I will definitely update this blog when I've found my half-marathon choices. I'll have to sleep on them for a while, but I'll definietly be browsing today!