I made it into Week 9!

On Tuesday I finally started into week 9. It's crazy to think that I've been training for over two months! Life sure goes by fast when you're having fun, right? Haha.

I do have to admit that walking the race course effected my mental game way more than I anticipated. I was actually dreading to start week 9, afraid that I was getting myself in way over my head. I'm happy to report that instead of throwing in the towel and grabbing a bucket of chicken - I did indeed start week 9. :) haha.

Three intervals of 20m/run& 1m/walk. I actually ended up doing really well and feeling great at the end of it. Though I did return to incline on the treadmill to 0% - it occured to me while running that perhaps the explanation for my sudden onset of charlie-horses and calf-knots is that I jumped into the incline all at once. I also started biking on my cross-training days, which I've read works your calves in a whole different way. Some deep-tissue massages (thanks hubby!) have helped with those, and I've been trying to be more concious about getting some good potassium in during the day so my body has more to work with.

Now that I'm into the "running for about an hour" crowd - I've got to start thinking about replacing electrolytes, fueling during runs, and keeping my blood sugar balanced. Towards the end of my outside run on Sunday (with Sheri) I was feeling that familiar light-headed floaty feeling. It wasn't really that hot, so I know it wasn't the heat. I'm not sure if it's an electrolyte thing, or a blood sugar thing, or a hydration thing. I'll just have to keep experimenting.

My new plan for dealing with my fear of hills is going to include incorporating some hill training into my workout. Not sure exactly how I'm going to do that - but I'm on a mission to build my confidence in running hills. Any suggestions would be awesome. :)