12 Week Itch

Confession time: I’ve been a bit of a slacker lately when it comes to sticking to my half marathon training plan and weekly mileage.

In the week leading up to the Belmar 5, I don’t think I ran at all.  Not one step.  The week after that (last week) I ran my usual Monday/Wednesday/Thursday and completed all of the scheduled mileage (4/4/2), but then this past weekend I never did my long run of 8 miles.  It’s now a brand new week and despite all of my good intentions to get back on the horse, I’ve already missed my Monday run.  And while I could just move those 4 miles to tonight, I’m not sure that will happen either.

What is my problem?  I think I’m experiencing the 12-week itch.

This is a term I made up myself – don’t go looking for it in any dictionaries!  Essentially I have been training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon since the first week of May.  The actual race is in mid-October.  When you do the math on that, that is 5 months of continuous training for just one single event.

I realize that I really do need that amount of training, having not run a step in a few years prior to signing up with Team in Training.  But halfway through the timeline, it’s all starting to wear on me.  Especially when I see other bloggers only just starting to train now for fall half marathons!

But that’s only one reason, I think.  Other excuses reasons?

• The heat.  I’ll be the first one to tell how big of a baby I am when it comes to excessively hot weather.  Which to me means 90 degrees+ and any kind of disgusting humidity.  I hate it.  If I was a serial killer (and I assure you I am not), this kind of weather would be when I would strike – that’s how crazy it makes me.

• Lack of time.  Because of the heat, I need to run either early in the morning or later in the evening.  You may remember a few posts back when I talked about giving early morning runs a try.  That lasted about three days until the mileage got too high to complete in the limited amount of time I have to run before leaving for work.  I liked running pre-dawn, but anything over 4 miles is just not doable for me.  That would require me to wake up at 4 am and get my butt out the door.  So far I’ve set my alarm countless times for 4 am and changed it back to 5:10 sometime in the middle of the night.  If I run after work, I prefer to do as soon as I get home a little after 5 – when it’s still too hot/humid (at least right now).  After I eat dinner, digest, and give Darcy some quality puppy playtime, I have nothing left.  Add in any extra errands I need to run during the week or visits to my nana in the nursing home (a new development), and you see what I mean. It’s a problem.

• Shin splints.  Lately I’ve been getting pretty bad shin splints (particular in my left leg) after running.  This is partly due to the fact that I’ve been doing many of my weekday runs on the treadmill (see above re: excessive heat/humidity!).  I just run differently on a treadmill.  But I’ve also been getting them after running outside.  They hurt so much that it often even hurts to walk for a day or two after running.  As I’m reluctant to injure myself while training, this is throwing off my entire schedule.  However, my Zensah Compression Leg Sleeves (in Team in Training purple!) are on their way – I’m hoping they’re going to help.

So that’s where my head is at right now.  Frustrated, but most of all, disappointed in myself.  I feel like I’m being lazy (and I probably am).  I need to straighten myself out now before it’s too late, and I end up walking the entire half marathon.

Consider this my cry for help….any suggestions?  What do you do when you’re lacking motivation or in a running rut?  Anyone have a good 3-day-a-week running plan for a beginner half marathoner?

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