So, I realize that so far I haven’t given any updates on my half-marathon training as promised. Unfortunately, I recently had to take a long break from it because I had such bad allergy symptoms. But before I took a 2-week hiatus, I did complete the 10-mile run I had planned to do. I think that was the last thing I talked about doing. It was hard, but I actually ended up running those 10 miles faster than I had run 9 miles a couple weeks before. I think I owe that to Melissa running with me for 7 of the 10 miles. Having someone with me keeps me more accountable to my 10 minute-per-mile pace. After that long run I think I did a couple shorter 4-miles runs and a 6-mile run before I had to stop because of my allergies.
Last Wednesday I ran for the first time since then and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. My boyfriend Jon went with me and he ended up setting a record length for himself! We went a little less than 4 miles. That’s pretty good for someone who had never actually gone for a run before until January! He had only run in baseball practice or playing other sports and never had any desire to go running. I must be pretty inspiring, huh? 
I did a 6-mile run on the greenway this past Friday, and it was pretty hard. This week we’re on spring break, and Sunday-Tuesday my friend Crystal and I were in Charleston! We ran the Cooper River Bridge on Monday, and that was probably the longest I have ever ran uphill! It was a very long incline to the top of the bridge, then not a very steep hill downward on the other side. We didn’t get much help from momentum going down until we ran back down the other side…but it was definitely a lot of momentum once we got there. It was a little over 4 miles total.
Last night I went about 4 miles again with my dad. So I need to do another long run again soon and not get stuck in these 4-milers. Jon and I are going running in Asheville tomorrow! If I want to do anything over 4 miles though, I’ll have to do it alone!
Thankfully so far I haven’t had any little injuries or any shin splints. I always got shin splints when I did track back in middle school and early on in high school, and they were awful. If I don’t get some new running shoes soon, though, I might start getting them! Yesterday I went shopping for shoes, but before I went to the store, I went through Nike’s little test to see what my “perfect shoe” is according to them. I recommend it for anyone looking for new training shoes! Want to see my top 5 recommendations? Go here: http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/footwear_finder
I only found a couple of them in stores. I think I’m going to get one of the ones I found at Dick’s, the second one on their list – the Air Pegasus. I’m waiting until I can go to the Dick’s in Asheville later today, though, because they didn’t have my size here. I’ll let you know how they work out if I get them!
