I *heart* 13.1 ... My Valentine's Day Half Marathon

Well, I wanted to run 10-12 miles today as my last long run for my half marathon in three weeks. I wanted to really push myself, since the kids usually think it's a big party in the basement while I'm running and I tend to have a lot of company and take a lot of snack breaks for the kids. I told hubby that I wanted to use our YMCA membership (for something other than the kids' swimming lessons!) and get my long run in at the Y on Sunday (Valentine's Day) morning.

So, the kiddos woke us up before 7AM, came in our bed looking for their gifts. We exchanged gifts and cards and had pink heart-shaped pancakes. At 9:00, I headed out the door. The YMCA opened at 9:00 and there weren't too many people there 15 mins after they opened. I got one of the "prime" treadmills that overlooks the gym and there was an older couple practicing ballroom dancing. Five miles passed quickly while watching them ... quite entertaining. I don't run with headphones, because I get so darn sweaty and they fall out of my ears. At home, I crank up the tv, but you need headphones at the Y to hear what's on the flat screen tvs. So, I just people watch and write to-do lists in my head, to let the miles pass. At mile five, I stopped the treadmill, because the gym was getting busy and people were waiting for my machine (I was obviously over my 30 min max). The machines also automatically shut off after an hour, so I thought I should while I knew exactly how many miles I had in.

So I stopped and moved across the gym to a different machine. Less people-watching and even though it said it was at zero-incline, it felt like I was constantly running up hill. The treadmills around me kept freeing up and people hopped on, so I didn't feel too pressured to jump off. I ended up getting in 6.6 miles in the hour on treadmill #2, before it automatically stopped. I felt great and realized I had 11.6 miles in and was at 6.6 (my usual comfortable pace) MPH the entire time. I realized that if I only put in 1.5 more miles that I would have a full half marathon (13.1 miles) in. Go! I cranked it up to 7.0 MPH for a mile and the 8.0 MPH for the last .5 mile. I felt phenomenal when I hit the stop button. I just ran a whole half marathon on the treadmill and I could've gone quite a bit further. I love workouts like that, that don't seem so difficult. It was a nice break from the dreadmill in our basement and felt more "social" even though I didn't say a word to anyone.

I downed a bottle of water, a bottled of G2 Gaterade and a pack of Clif Shot Blocks during my entire time at the YMCA and felt great on my 1/4 mile cool-down walk.

The half marathon is my absolute favorite distance. And, I really didn't mind doing it on the treadmill this morning. Crazy.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!