Training

 

My first ever runfie, along the beautiful Bow River.

I have been trying to maintain my training for my half marathon through the first few weeks of term, my son starting kindergarten, and this trip to be with my mom for her surgery. I have managed to up my mileage and get in a few tempo runs and hill runs. I was up to just over 17 km last weekend,  enough that I could finish the race, but not enough that I was mentally convinced I could finish the race if that makes any sense. So I really wanted to do one last long run that was closer to 21 km, but fitting that in was going to be hard. This week I have been sitting in a hospital chair all night long, grabbing sleep while I can, helping my mom out when she needs it and mostly just being there for her. So I'm pretty wrecked in the day time. I grab a few hours of nap when I can, but don't want to get totally turned around because next week I have to go back to my regular schedule, which includes teaching on Monday morning. So I had planned to grab a short run on Thursday and a long run on Saturday. My short run ended up being a little over 10 km. I went pretty slow. It wasn't so much that my body needed the mileage, but my mind did. So I ran as long as I needed to. Then today I managed to get out for a run that was just over 20 km. I ran along the Bow River from near the hospital where my mom is to past the zoo and back. It was too easy. Partly because it was flat, at least compared to what I'm used to, and partly because my mind welcomed the respite. My body feels really beat up. I have a date booked with our roller when I get home tomorrow night that's for sure. But now I can do a shorter long run next weekend, and concentrate on tempo runs between now and the race. I know I can finish feeling OK. If only I knew the same for my mom.