As of yesterday I’ve now completed the first 2 weeks of my half marathon training! It’s been really nice to get back into running after taking about three and a half weeks off over Christmas and New Years. The end of week 2 included my celebration of the Olympic Trials, and I am now anxiously awaiting the Olympics this summer!

This is the breakdown of my week:

  • Sunday: Rest
  • Monday: Pilates and Core Strengthening
  • Tuesday: 3 mile Run
  • Wednesday: Elliptical- 3.29 miles
  • Thursday: 3 mile Run
  • Friday: Strengthening & Stretching  – 45 minutes
  • Saturday: 3.5 mile Run

Total Miles: 9.5 miles running + 3.29 miles Cross training

This week I definitely felt like I had a much easier time running then I did last week, despite the fact that I ran further and cross trained. The strengthening/stretching/pilates days have been great, and I think will definitely help with my overall strength and training!

Lesson Learned: When running outside in the cold, bring Kleenex with you! I ran outside on Tuesday, and despite it being a nice, sunny day, my nose got runny and I had nothing to take care of it. I finally just caved and blew my nose into my hands and then rubbed it on my running tights. UGH. I hated doing it, and vowed to bring kleenex from now on.  ewww.

Biggest Struggle: The treadmill! Twice in the last week the treadmill I was on quit suddenly. Yesterday it was during my cool down, so it wasn’t a big deal. However, on Thursday it quit while I was at either 5.4 or 5.6, and I almost fell and smacked my head on the monitor thing at the front. To go from 5.6 to nothing instantly without expecting it is quite a jolt, and I’m not a little freaked out about hurting myself that way. It’s been a different treadmill both times, and in each instance someone had kicked the cord out of the plug.

Now it’s your turn: What do you do to deal with runny noses during runs outdoors? What’s your favorite stretching or strengthening move?