Back to normal-ish

Per my promise to myself yesterday, I did get up bright and early for a run this morning. It's the first day I've felt really energized and motivated in over a week. I cranked out my 4.5 miles at a sub-optimal pace, but it didn't dampen my spirits. I may still have just enough time to get to a spot where I don't have my worst half marathon ever. My slowest half marathon was the runDisney Wine and Dine half in 2013 at 2:10:12. That's 9:56 min/mi, so I have some work to do if I'm struggling right now with only doing 4+ miles at a 10 min/mi pace.

Still wishing I could go *this* fast.

I hate thinking that my new goal is just not to have my worst race ever. That's not very inspirational.

Part of me thinks I just need to give myself permission to be right where I am today per these wise words.

Another part of me hopes that I could at least improve over my 2015 Star Wars half. That would still be moving the needle in the right direction, but means I need to be faster than a 9:42 min/mi pace. Keep in mind that I also raced the 10k the day before, and will be doing so again this year.

Although 44 days sounds like a good amount of time to pick up the pace, I have to factor in tapering time. Meaning I really shouldn't be running the week before the race. But... I've actually never tapered before a half. I might have taken a day or two before a race off from running, but never a full week or more. I've been doing all kinds of things I have never done before this go-round, so maybe we'll throw a taper in there too.

Today's exercise: 4ish mile run w/ core work:
M1: 10:05
M2: 10:17
M3: 10:09
M4: 10:06