T Minus 2 Weeks! Half Marathon Update

My 1/2 Marathon is in less than 2 weeks!

EEK!!!

I wanted to give an update on my training since I have less than 2 weeks to go!

I started training for the 1/2 Marathon on July 16 (the 1/2 marathon is October 18, so I began training 3 months before) 

July 16th was the first time I had gone running in 10 years (!!!!) 

I used to be a runner, but then being pregnant, having kids & life got in the way of running. 

And, honestly, I didn't make it a priority, so I just stopped running cold turkey in 2005 when I got pregnant.

 I loosely followed the Hal Higdon Novice 2 Half Marathon Training Plan. 

I try and run 3-4 times a week, plus "cross training"  that he recommends.

I am counting my Monday night Co-ed indoor soccer games as my cross training.

I use the Nike + Running App (It's free!) to track all my runs.

Here is how my runs have been going since I last updated my training at the end of August.

(You can see that update HERE)

This goes from most recent to oldest.

 Saturday was my longest run to date....12 miles!!!!! It was hard!

2 days later & I am still sore.

 The week before, I ran 11 miles & it felt great, but running 12 this past weekend was rough, I hit the wall at mile 10. I think the problem was that I went out too fast on my 12 mile run. My first couple miles were sub 8 miles.

When I ran 10 miles a few weeks ago, it was a rough run...It was a hilly course & it was 95 degrees out. I didn't run with any water (never making that mistake again!!!)

 So, that has been my training re-cap for the past 6 weeks since I last updated.

I am feeling excited/nervous for the 1/2 marathon.

I am excited about it because I have never done a 1/2 marathon before and I am proud of myself for sticking to a training plan. It feels good to get back into shape.

I am nervous because the 1/2 marathon course is FULL of hills.

If you have been to San Francisco before you know that it is ALL hills. Hills everywhere.

Here is the race course:

 See that steep incline at mile 10? YIKES.

Throughout all my training runs, I have felt good for the first 8-10 miles and then I have hit the wall....the fact that there is a big incline at mile 10 is making me nervous.

My 10 mile run, 11 mile run & 12 mile run all had some hills in them, but I am thinking I maybe should have added some more hilly runs. Oh well! 

My training plan for the next 2 weeks is to run 3 miles & 4 miles this week, run a 10K on Sunday and next week I plan on running another 3 miles & then 4 miles.

I think I will make sure 1 of those runs is a hilly run, just to get my legs used to the hills...although it might be too late for that! 

On a side note...like my new running shirt? Is it perfect for me or what? :)

For those of you who have run a 1/2 marathon, I would LOVE any last minute advice you can give me! I have no idea what to expect & would love any tips that will be useful for me to know as I taper off these last 2 weeks!