Bring it on, SF Half!

It's official-I'm in for the SF Half Marathon on July 25, 2010. This will be the third time I've run this course (2nd half) and the fourth half marathon I've run overall. This year I am determined to break the two hour mark. Last year was a major disappointment- even though I had been battling some health issues so did not train as much overall, I was still incredibly disappointed when I ended with my slowest time ever.

2007 2:04:14
2009 2:13:07

Last year I was on pace to break 2 hours during the first half of the run, but it was at mile 10 that I hit the wall. My legs had built up so much lactic acid that it felt like I was trying to run through water and I had to really fight to make it to the finish. I have never had that happen before so hopefully I won't have a repeat. I am still proud that I finished, but this year it's on!

Since I had completely killed my last pair of running shoes, I finally replaced them with my trusty Brooks Adrenaline GTS 9's. I'm an over-pronator with low arches, so after much trial and error these are the best. They provide the most cushioning and are the only shoes I've found so far that don't give me blisters on my inner arches every time I run over 7 miles. The runner ups would have to be the Asics Gel Kayanos.

My training plan is pretty old school. I don't belong to a gym, I don't have a personal trainer, I don't have one of those fancy heart monitors and I don't eat those nasty Gu shots/energy beans/energy bars during my runs. The only things I do are:
1) Slowly increase my mileage every week-usually only getting in one good long run on the weekend and then the rest are a combo of short runs/hill sprints.
2) Use a foam roller to stretch out my IT band at least every night. That has been the one thing that has helped me to avoid the major knee pain I was having several years ago.
3) Stretch nightly.
3) Three to four times a week I use an exercise ball for my ab workouts and also lift 10 lb free weights to build up my arms. I could probably go up to heavier weights at this point but instead I just do more repetitions.

During my runs I usually drink water at the water fountains along my running routes. I don't like having to carry anything while I run and tried one of those waist belts to carry a water bottle but it was just too uncomfortable. The only thing that I will probably bring back into my routine are my once a week yoga sessions. It was a great way to relieve stress and it really helped to build up my core strength and flexibility. I still do it at home, but I am not as disciplined as when I was going to a regular class.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I can train hard enough this time around to break my time. Good luck to all the other runners that are training out there!