....motivation is key!

So I have been recently unmotivated since my last race and I decided not to moan about it on here but put my head down and rest for a week and then pick myself back up for the next training session. This has only been my second week this year that I took off due to lack of will to run. I think next year I will either block my races closer or not do so many! The next race is 7 weeks away and it is a half marathon! Uh oh! So lesson learnt! Training all year round isn't fun. Make it more fun in 2013!

 So half marathon talk..... normally I pick a schedule and stick to it rigidly (or try). This year I started into my training late and was running longer miles then I normally do when I start so I thought it was okay to slack. Now slacking means only running 3 times a week so far but I really wanted to be up to 5 times so my speedwork would really count on race day! Anyway runnersworld.com your sub 2hour half marathon schedule is hard! I am managing the intervals and one normal run from their schedule. I am then using the long run distance from my old schedule and then throwing in short runs with my house mate here and there ( I know that means 4 but I switch around sometimes). So with 7 weeks to go I am up to 8.2miles on my long run at a 8.45min/mile pace! I'm quite happy with that but still feel underprepared. Time will tell! I think I'm going to treat this as a fun run rather then a beatmyPB race.

Running this week has been nice and different to most summer runs I've been doing. This is with regards to how runners interact with me. In winter time people are very vocal and friendly however when the sun comes out it seems the unfriendly runners come with it. I saved a poll from fetcheveryone.com as it didn't seem to represent my area well. Yesterday on my long run surprisingly the cyclists were more friendly but I did also get a "hello" and a friendly wave from a toddler!

This is a blog topic I've been wanting to cover for a while and would love to know other peoples feed back on this. Do you say hello to fellow runners or keep your head down/ to the side to avoid any interaction. The first time I had a friendly hello from a fellow runner it made me really happy and I vowed every morning each runner I passed would also get a "good morning!" no matter how tired I felt!

So other then that! Royal Parks Half marathon training is in full swing! My 8 miles were great. Turns out if you start slow and continue steady (as I had been told) you can actually get a lot further and feel great! 

I am going to take that advice again next week on my 9miler!