Thought this was supposed to get easier???

Here it is....day 40 of training for this half-marathon and it seems to be getting harder than easier. I know what you are thinking? "Tina - today is Sunday - which is always a "Day of Rest" on your training schedule - why is that hard?" Well, I'll tell you why. I did not feel good all day Friday and Friday evening, so I ended up sleeping in on Saturday and not going to the team run as usual. So, I figured since I technically had my "day of rest" on Saturday, I couldn't be lazy today and I really needed to get up and make up that 6 MILE RUN that I was supposed to have done yesterday.

So.....I woke up at 6:45 a.m., laced up my tennies and headed out. I had it all figured out - I would run out a mile from home and run back for a "water stop" at the end of my driveway (where I had set up a water bottle for a quick "run by" later). Then after my little water break, I would head back out and do another 2 miles and stop for another water break, and then wrap it up with another 2 miles. Sounds like a good plan, huh? Well I walked and walked ( just could not muster up the strength to run at this point) to what I thought was the "1 mile mark" and thought I was going to die by the time I got there. It took me 24 minutes, wherein usually a mile takes me about 15-17 minutes. So, I was like "Wow, that must have been more than a mile, I clearly miscalculated". I turned around and ran/walked back to the house and it took me 18 minutes to get back but I took a little detour through a cut road because I was dyeing of thirst. When I stopped to get water I thought my feet were going to bust right out of my shoes they hurt so bad.

I have came to the conclusion that the reason I have such pain when I walk/run at home is because when they paved the roads in our neighborhood they paved them at a significant slant where the road actually "peaks" in the middle and then slants down to both edges of the road. So, when I walk, I feel like I am leaning. I swear this is putting strain on my legs that I should not be having. I could be wrong, but this is what I am thinking since I dont have the same issues when I walk/run downtown. (When I walk/run downtown, I simply have the "Oh my god, I am out of shape and too old to do this type pain.......not the oh, god, my feet are going to shoot off the bottom of my legs pain that I experience at home.....just to clarify).

Anyhoo, by this time, I had convinced myself if I tried to go back out for another 2 miles I would end up collapsing. This would not be good since by the time my family woke up around noon and realized I had not made it back home, I would have surely been left for dead on the side of the road from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Because of this thought, I only made it 2 miles today instead of the 6 I had so graciously planned the night before. There is always tomorrow I guess.