Distance work

You're probably thinking this is an agility post.  Well, it's not.  The dogs are not the only ones doing distance work these days.  I mentioned in my 2011 summary post I'd be running a half-marathon in 2012.  See, my friend is having, shall we say, a significant birthday this year.  She wanted to do something special, so rather than just run another 5K, or even a 10K she decided on a half-marathon.  In May. The trade-off is that she has relatives near Santa Barbara that will let us use their beach house.  So we get to run our half-marathon through scenic wine country and then spend two days basking in the California sunshine.  Fair enough right?

Anyway to prepare I have been running 4-5 days a week and making my long run a little longer every week.  I have been pleasantly surprised that adding another 1/2 mile each week has not been overwhelmingly difficult.  I definitely feel tired towards the end with my legs alternately feeling like lead or just numb but it's not until I actually stop running that all the exhaustion really sets in.  Then I feel a little bit like I want to die.  But I'm up to 8 miles and still doing ok.  That's the furthest I've ever run, even further than I ever ran in high school cross country training.

Also I tend to crave extremely unhealthy foods after my long runs.  Ben and Jerry's ice cream, McDonald's fries, you name it-and if I've run more than 5 miles that day....I WANT IT!  Which seems somewhat counterproductive.  So I'm having a salad for lunch tomorrow.  That works right?  Anyway, wish me luck.