The Course and Other Running Shenans.

^^^Rock and Roll Half Marathon Course - April 6, 2014^^^

My friend Mo said, "Whatever you do, DON'T watch the course video." And well, usually when someone tells me not to do something, I have a strong urge to do just that. 

And so I did.

And now I know what she's talking about.

Even though it's "just" 13.1 miles, it seems like the longest 13.1 miles EVER.

BUT - there are a couple of cool things about this course:

1) We get to run over the Golden Gate Bridge, and I'm pretty dang excited to be able to do that. When the Dizz and I took a little adventure to that bridge when we first moved here, we only went to the halfway point. So NOW - I will get to do the whole shebang.

2) At about the 3:11 mark in the video, you can see my neighborhood street! And at the 3:23 point, we pass my grocery store! I run that area almost everyday now, so it'll either a) be nice to run familiar territory or b) make it extremely tempting to just quit and walk home.

3) That's it. I have no more things to say about the course because I'm still wide-eyed and stunned that I really signed up for this beast.

***

This time around, I'm trying to do things a little different, a little better, if you will. When The Dizzle and I were training for the marathon, we didn't really pay much attention to our diet. And it was amazing. We would run 16 miles then get In N Out for lunch, followed by Pizza Hut for dinner. And no, we did not share a pizza, we would each get our own. Like I said, glorious. But I really am trying to do this half marathon in a healthier way. I'm trying to eat more protein and "better" carbs for the long runs. I think I'll just feel better, overall.

I'm also looking into getting a few things to help my run.

I need a water belt. When I trained before, Verner would always wear the camel pack for the both of us. I tried one time to run with a backpack, and I hated it. It was extremely uncomfortable for me. BUT, I'm going to need something so I don't die of dehydration, especially when I'm getting to my 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 mile training runs. So, I was thinking I could get something like this:

Nathan Hydration Belt

Have you ever run with something like this before? I'm hoping it's comfortable enough and doesn't bother da hips.

I also want to get a heart rate/calorie counter, kind of like this one:

Pyle Sports

It wraps around just under your lady lumps and also on your wrist. I don't need anything fancy, just something simple and accurate.

Other than that, I don't think I need much else. I usually use Map My Run on my phone to keep track of my distance because it helps hearing as each mile completes, knowing that I'm one step closer to the finish! Plus it'll tell me the pace of each mile too, so I can know if I need to speed up or not (which usually I do, need to speed up that is, but then usually I don't. so there's that.).

I have officially 11 more weeks until race day! Seems like a long time, but I'm sure, like everything else, it'll be here before I know it.

^^^From my run over the weekend. Those hills are no joke, man.^^^

Happy Tuesday, yo. Off to run. Again.

xoxo