Wife and I are training for the Carlsbad Half Marathon in January. Wife has already run both a marathon and a half marathon so luckily she has already created a training plan. These are weeks 7 & 8 of that half marathon training program.

Since we are getting really close to the actual race we decided it was time to start reducing our runs to prevent injury and fatigue. We cut our runs from 4 runs a week to three runs a week. Now we will run 3 miles, 5 miles, and a long run. We also liked the idea because it just means one less run.

Wednesday – 3 miles

A nice quick run around the neighborhood. Killian really enjoyed it and slept the rest of the day away. Sadly we could not.

Friday – 5 miles

Normally we run in the morning but I had to make sure I made it to work on time so that I could make it to Fiesta Island to help film a segment for the Discover Science Channel about the Delta II rocket explosion. So we ran in the evening instead. This time we took a different route just for the fun of it passing by my parents house and running around Kensington.

Sunday – 12 miles

Even by car 12 miles is a really far distance to go. We found a great loop around Mission Bay that starts and ends at Fiesta Island. I can see why people love to run down there. Even though I did take some ibuprofen before and during the run, I must say everything else felt great. The loop really keeps you entertained because everything is new as opposed to our normal routine of running half the distance and then turning around. The best part is meeting people half way around who you now know are running the same loop, just in the opposite direction. With only 1.1 miles to go for the full 13.1 miles the race will be, we have now figured that our pace should be about 11 minutes a mile. Not the fastest time but good enough to finish which is all I really want to do.

Tuesday – 3 miles

Another quick jaunt around Normal Heights where everything is just perfectly normal. Funny how 3 miles now becomes a fun run after you have run 12 miles.

Friday – 5 miles

Another day that required me to be at work early so that I could be in Encinitas by 9 for a outreach on kites. We took the dog on his favorite light up leash (actually, every leash is his favorite because it means he is going for a walk). We all finished and Killian slept the evening away even though we had a guest.

Sunday – 8 miles

The day started out with a lot of walking around the zoo. We had passes that expired on January 31st. So I can tell you that we really did not want to go for a run after that. A quick nap helped energize us (well me at least, Wife had a bit of a headache) and we decided to do the 8 miles in our neighborhood. I mapped it out on mapmyrun.com and put on my brand new bottle carrier fanny pack while Wife tried out her new running clothes. The run had some beautiful houses and made us want to play the lottery in hopes of winning millions to afford the one bedroom with no bath in Kensington. The only bad part was that our run ended a few blocks to early, darn you technology for failing me. However, it did force us to walk it off.

Well, next Sunday is the big run. we now have the clothes, the equipment, and the endurance. All we ask is that you pray neither one of us dies at mile 7. Come cheer us on if you are in the North County area. Click here to download the spectator route PDF. Allright folks, Here we go!