Half Marathon Training: Week 12

Week 12:

- Tuesday, better than nothing arms & abs
- Thursday, 3.13 mi around my neighborhood, 33:10
- Sunday, 6.2 mi (10k) on the Schuylkill River Trail, 1:02, 15 min dog walk
- Total Mileage = 9.32 mi

Goals for week 13:
- Treat my shin splints & purchase a pair of compression sleeves or sock: A+
- Workout 5 times: C+

This week started out slow.  I was waiting out my shins for the first part of the week, which lead me to laziness and not getting in the five workouts that I was shooting for.  Oh well.  Life goes on.  I did do a great job taking care of my shins with lots of icing, rolling, and rest.  And my friend Shayna (Happy Birthday!) told me about a great deal on compression socks, so I ordered 2 pairs for $25 each (regularly $50)!  I thought the deal was over, but it looks like it's still going on, so go check it out now!  I got a pair of black and a pink pair!

Another fun internet purchase this week was a new wrist strap for my Garmin.  The original strap is so chunky and either it's too tight or too lose, both of which bother me while running.  And one of the the pins keeps trying to escape!  It's kind of annoying that the pin would be coming loose on such an expensive piece of equipment after minimal use, but I love the watch and the reviews for this strap all say they wish they bought it way before their original straps broke because it's just so much more comfy than the original.  So I think it will be worth it!  Review of the new strap, coming soon!

After waiting out my shins, I had some great runs this week!  I had been having a lot of tough runs lately, they felt so hard and I was dreading them, this week was just what I needed!  Thursday I was just excited to be out running without any pain.  On Sunday I ran my longest run yet!  I was kind of getting nervous for my 6 miler since I struggled pretty hard during my 5 mile run the week before, so I went to my running group and begged someone to join me.  I ended up with the best running buddy!  She offered to carry an extra water bottle for me on her belt (how could I say no?!), she paced me, gave me advice, and cheered me on.  And she ran ODDyssey last year so she told me about her experience.  I ran significantly faster than I would've by myself and felt great!  We ran the Schuylkill River Trail, which was flat, scenic, and new to me.  And it was supposed to rain, but never did.  So overall I really couldn't have had a better Sunday run :)

Goals for week 13:
- Run 3 times
- Arms & abs 2 times
- Yoga 1 time

2 months till my half mary!  So crazy!

Do you wear compression socks?  Do you wear them while running or just for recovery?  Do you like running alone or with a buddy?