Half-Marathon training is going well, so far so good. I am only nine days in and I thought my legs would be crying at this point, they aren’t. I am going to go on with training as if Heather and I aren’t going to have a baby sometime over the next 4 weeks. I’ll keep it up until that happens and adjust from there. If it means I barely get to run then that is the way it’ll be. If I can still find a way to squeeze in workouts on 4-6 hours of sleep each night then that is something I’ll do. This will definitely be a learning experience, I can’t wait.

I have to catch up from last Friday.

Friday – DNR. The schedule calls for 4 miles or rest. I rested.

Saturday - I met English Mike and Yellow Shorts (Yes Yellow Shorts) for a long trail run in the Wissahickon. Mike described the route on the Philly Runners message board and I knew it was going to be tough run, it didn’t disappoint. The pace remained easy but the relentless hills, rocks and roots just tire you out. Top that off with a warm and humid morning and by two hours it becomes a run of attrition. It actually took us nearly three hours and although none of us were in great shape, we all finished in front of Johnny Mananas Mexican restaurant in one piece and then ordered a beer.

I am going to say it was 16 miles in 2:56 but the distance is just a conservative guess.

Sunday – 5 easy miles with 4 x 100m strides. I kept the easy part real easy and I was surprised that the strides felt decent. 42 minutes.

Monday – An official rest day on the plan. Instead of a run I took a look walk with Heather and Boomer on a beautiful evening.

Tuesday – I got my butt out of bed for a track workout this morning. 4 x 1600(400) at 6:20 pace and 6 x 200 (100) at 5k pace. I was on limited time so I shortened my normal 2 mile warm-up to 1 mile and got busy.

6:23 (2:06) Just a little slow but it was my 1st rep at 6:00 am, that was just fine.

6:15 (1:58)) A little fast because I was looking at my watch too much and thought I was behind in the last lap.

And then the rest...

6:20(2:01), 6:20 (2:07), 41 (47), 42 (47), 41 (46), 41 (49), 42 (44), 44

I ended with an easy mile home. Overall a good workout but those mile intervals are boring. This workout might be better done in the park. I can’t split the 200s there but I think I’d be safe with 40 seconds fast and 40 seconds slow. I’m happy I was able to get up and get this done.