The week prior to the Gasparilla Half Marathon was not shaping up to be the ideal pre-race week. I was overburdened with and stressed out by work--both at my full-time job and at home with editing projects; I came down with a cold--what seemed to be a combination of a sinus and ear infection; and the weather was turning warmer and more humid than it had been in months. But I was determined to PR this race, which meant I had to be in top shape. I rested, I regularly drank a potent tea of lemon, ginger, honey, garlic (yep), and cinnamon, and I tried to get as much work off my plate as possible. I only ran twice , I did one night of yoga, and I rested Friday and Saturday before the race. My "Pre-Gaming" I was feeling pretty good Saturday morning when I got up early to go watch that day's races--the 15k and the 5k. I met up with Josh and his triathlon training group and cheered on the runners passing by. Cheering, when done well, is a lot of work. One must be constant and...

*This post was begun weeks ago, but I stopped about halfway through, got busy with life, and didn't post for the remainder of training. ------ Last week was a great week of training. I did almost everything I wanted to, aside from Ashtanga on Sunday, but I also realized that I need to have a rest day. My body was asking for it. I hate to sacrifice that yoga class, but if I'm going to be in the kind of training shape I want to be in, it's a sacrifice that must be made. Week 4: 1/14/13 - 1/20/13 M:  3.1 mi (E) T:  5 mi (P) W:  CrossBoot (XT) R:  4 mi (E) F:   hot yoga (XT) Sa:  8 mi (LSD) Su: rest Weekly mileage: 20.1 Key: (E) = Easy; (P) = Pace; (LSD) = Long Slow Distance; (XT) = Cross Training On Monday, right after work (or perhaps a teensy bit before the end of the work day), I left to meet my friend Cameron at Trout Creek for a trail run. I've been wanting to do more trails, and she was sort of familiar with this one and knew of an approxi...

Key: (E) = Easy; (P) = Pace; (LSD) = Long Slow Distance; (XT) = Cross Training Week 5: 1/21/13 - 1/27/13 M:  5 mi (P) + yin yoga (XT) T:  6 mi (E) W:  rest R:  6.1 mi (P) F:   hot yoga (XT) Sa: 11mi (LSD) Su:  yoga in the park (XT)/ swing dancing Weekly mileage: 28.1 Week 6: 1/28/13 - 2/3/13 M: 5.69 mi (E) T:  rest/ swing dancing W:  CrossBoot (XT) R:  5 mi (P) F:   9 mi (LSD) Sa:  rest/ swing dancing Su:  3   mi (E)/  yoga in the park (XT) Weekly mileage: 22.69 Week 7: 2/4/13 - 2/10/13 M:  4 mi (E) T: 4 mi (P) W:  CrossBoot (XT) R:  6 mi (P) F:   CrossBoot (XT) Sa: 12  mi (LSD) Su:  donation yoga (Bella Prana) Weekly mileage: 26 Week 8: 2/11/13 - 2/17/13 M: 6.32 mi (E) T: 4 mi (P) W:  mini strength workout R: 6 mi (P) F:   CrossBoot (XT) Sa:  8 mi (LSD) Su:  yoga in the park (XT) Weekly mileage:...