Training: The Dull Part, Oh Wait a Half!

The excitement of starting to train has worn off, and I am most of the way through week 6 of training for the Gate City Marathon. 

I updated my spreadsheet of training to show you that I haven't missed a run, but there have  been days where I just wanted to sit in the recliner with my dog Moxie and drink tea. The two things that have helped get me out and running is joining the Taji 100 mission and my running friends. Last night I was able to go to Fleet Feet's winter warriors run when I am certain if I had gone home after work I would not have run. It was cold, it was snowing, it was yucky! 

Yellow:less than goal miles; Green:Goal miles; Blue 1 or more than goal miles.
This is Hal Higdon Novice 1 plan, I highly recommend you go to his website to get all the details. 

I'm glad that I am running the Hampton Half Marathon in less than 10 days, because my training has hit the boring stuff. I haven't made any gains since my half marathon training last spring, plus it's cold out. Current weather for my half marathon is forecast to be 34-45 degrees, 10 mph wind, and a 20% chance of rain. As long as it doesn't get worse than that, I have a good chance of getting a half marathon PR, with a time under 3 hours. And, honestly my first half marathon time was 3 hours and 24 minutes, which gives me a bit of space to work with.

The next issue is what do I wear for the race. My original plan was to try for a Princess Leia on Hoth costume, but I didn't get around to knitting the braided headband that I would need. I'm watching the weather closely, as it will be the final determination on my outfit. Likely my outfit will be similar to last night, with my pink long sleeve shirt and white vest. I'll get to use the snaps on my vintage Skirt Sports race skirt to hold my bib. As a note, I'm a Skirt Sports Ambassador, use my code LISL521 to save 15% off a regular priced item. 

Unlike last time, I feel like I have a much better idea on race nutrition. While I feel I'm still in the testing stages of food, I feel like I've moved into human clinical trials rather than lab tests and discussions of theory.

My nutrition plan for the race is: dry oatmeal with almond butter and choc chips before the race, likely for breakfast. Since the race starts at 10am, I'll drink some coffee in the morning as well, just to move things along so my digestive tract doesn't bother me during the race.

I'll carry concentrated Tailwind in my water bottles, or at least in 1 bottle and 2-3 packets of Gu. A friend hooked me up with a packet of S'mores, my favorite, and I suspect the other flavors I have I'll like as well. My guess is I'll use 2 of them during the race at around 1:15 and 2:30. I'll make sure I pack some post race snacks since it's unlikely I can eat anything at the finish line.

Aside from all that,  I need to plan out a 7 mile route to explore more roads in Nashua, figure out how I'm going to Run/Walk 26 miles between now and Wednesday 2/28 to complete the Taji 100 mission and do a much better job at hydration.