Thanksgiving Break ...

So...since last week (oops!), I have officially completed my longest run --> 11 miles!! It was LONG and HARD, but I finished it with a 10 minute pace. It's difficult training alone, so it was nice to have my neighbor to run by for the run. Unfortunately, he is nursing a calf injury, so we had to run on an off-road path the majority of the time. I was feeling good for about the first 9 miles, but the last 2 were brutal!! Instead of coaching myself through to 'finish strong', I was reminding myself to 'just finish, one foot in front of the other'! It really was a big accomplishment for me, and I'm so happy that I am only 2.1 miles away from my goal!!

I pretty much took the rest of the weekend off after that run and didn't actually jog until my 8 mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. I finished in 1 hour 15 minutes exactly! That came out to a 9:20 mile...wow! The run was tough...lots of uphills, wind and cold! Extremely cold!! I bet it was in the upper 30's/low 40's!! I was questioning how I had 5 more miles in me after that race, but I had to tell myself that I wouldn't have been running so fast so early in my half marathon. I can do it! I can do anything I put my mind too!

I went to the White Rock website and looked at the course. The half-marathoners don't even get to run around the lake!! What the heck!?!? And miles 6 - 9 are on an incline. That should be fun! At least 10 - 13 are a slight downhill...not the kind that will be hard to run against, but the kind that will be a nice change of pace, especially after 3 miles of uphill running! Can't wait and unfortunately my hubby can't make it up with me. He has a work dinner the Saturday night before :( I'll miss him and his support, so if you are in Dallas and want to be an AWESOME friend, call me and you can cheer me on. I will really need help around mile 8 and 11! My mom, dad and Kelsey will be there to motivate me, and nothing is better than seeing the smile from my litte girl! Oh, gotta love her!

Anyways - 6 more days. I'm going to do a few light runs this week to keep my legs in shape. Probably about 5 today, 4 on Wednesday, and 3 on Friday. I went for a 3 mile jog on the Friday after the Trot and it felt like the shortest run of my life. Before I knew it, I was back at my parent's casa! Crazy how that path used to be VERY difficult for me!

Well, until then...prayers for the race would be appreciated! :)

Liz