Day 23

30-minute run to break in new runners (last pair having distintegrated on every possible level). 

In further news, the plum blossoms are finally out at Rathtrevor!

Days 17 & 19

20-minute interval run
 &
30-minute maintenance run.

Add to this a daily dose of strength training in the form of hard labour.  Am helping a friend clear her property, and logs trump free weights any day.  I'm thinking of it as farm bootcamp, as this summer is going to be all about the physical work.
 

Day 15

* 14 weeks to race day *

Put in yet more unintended effort on today's run:  had planned a 55-minute run, in accordance with my 5-minute per week increase on the long runs, but I forgot to check my watch and inadvertantly clocked in a solid 60-minute session.
This may not seem like much of a difference, but in my neophyte running days, I remember counting off the seconds on every run with a hyper-awareness.
I wouldn't say that a zen state is attained when I run now, but having reached a base level of fitness has freed my mind to wander rather than to take stock of painful minutes and physical discomfort.

Day 13

Did a 20-minute tempo run this morning, not necessarily by choice.

Had planned a 20-minute maintenance run for today as I've scheduled two long runs this week in an effort to catch up a little.  But there was an inordinate number of walkers along the route today, and there's nothing like having a constant audience to make you step up your game.  So the planned maintenance pace was replaced by a much-faster-than-normal-yes-I-always-run-this-fast clip that I should be aiming for anyway if I plan to run a sub-2.

Thanks, walkers, for making me feel self-conscious and ashamed of slacking off.

Day 11

Have hauled myself back up to 50-minutes of steady running.  Today was one of those runs that started weak and ended strong, which is so much better than the other way around.  And there was no rain, shockingly.  I enjoy whimsical puddle-jumping as much as the next fun-loving runner, but as of late, the puddles have become epic, nameable bodies of water, killing all sense of whimsy in a soggy throttle.
But all that rain is pointing towards a verdant spring, and already, green things are sprouting!

Day 3

Today I tried proper interval training for the first time:

20-minute run with 8 speed intervals (used hydro poles as markers). 

This workout had my heart racing and sweat pouring in record time.  Excellent way to get a quick, efficient run in, and a great way to balance the weekly long runs.

Haven't sprinted like that since I was a kid (or maybe since the wild boar chased me in Japan ...).

Day 1

Back to square one-ish.  Illness rendered February a lost month, but today I got back on track with a 45-minute run through Rathtrevor with my brother, Constable J.  His legs were weak from a manly weight session the day before but his lungs were strong, and my legs were strong after resting for 3 weeks but my lungs were weak like a proper convalescent's, so it made for a pretty even run.
Felt extraordinarily good to get back out there.  Also, my mom gave me shiny new running duds for my b-day, so now, obviously, I will be running much faster.

Sub-2 half-marathon, here I come, 16 weeks and counting.