3 Half Marathons in 3 months....Yes I'm crazy!

So the good news is, I am finished with my summer racing series!  Yay, me!  And I took 3rd place in my age group for all 3 races.  Super excited about that!

Too bad the glass was empty!

Bad news, I am feeling it tonight!  I think that the weeks ahead are going to continue to get tougher but I just have to say, "Wow"!  Running a half marathon with the sun beating down and the temperature rising was just the icing on the cake this week.  Here's what the week looked like leading up to today:

Monday - 16x400 (nope that's not a typo) with a 2 mile warm up & 1 mile cool down.  

Wednesday - 9 mile temp run - only had time for 6, sorry

Friday - 6 mile easy run 

Sunday - 16 miles (sorry only did 13.1)

I learned this week that I am not very good at keeping a steady pace when doing track work.  I went out way too fast for the first 8 400s.  I need to work on listening to my body and knowing what is a"good" uncomfortable effort and what is an "on the verge of vomiting" effort.  It's a fine line but not being able to distinction between the two could cost a qualifying time.

This piece I have known for a while but is worth re-iterating.  My mind is SO much stronger than my body.  There were times today that I just wanted to dial it back and take it easy.  My mind wouldn't let me.  I would spot someone & challenge myself to catch them.  Mentally, it also helped to have friends out there pushing me too.  I had 3 great pacers today that took turns keeping me going!  Thanks guys, you are appreciated beyond words!

Last & possibly the hardest lessoned learned, listen to your body!  When your legs ache, even 15 hours later, its probably a good idea to take a rest day.  At least today, this is an easy lesson.......I will rest tomorrow!