Running at Night

Somehow, last night around 8:45, after being gone from home for over 12 hours, I found the energy to run 2 miles. And I did speed work nonetheless. I have learned that my body has more energy and feels better when I run at night. And then I had a glorious feeling when I was finished and it did not keep me from going to sleep 2 hours later. I slept like a baby!

I've tried working out first thing in the morning with no food on my stomach, blech! I feel like I'm going to pass out.

I've also tried late morning or early afternoon about an hour after a meal. Just don't seem to have any energy then, either.

The few races I have participated in, I ate big carb filled dinners the night before and then had toast and a banana and some almonds about an hour before. That worked well for me. So I'm going to plan to stick to that for this upcoming half. 

And I'm going to train whenever I can find time and energy, which will most likely be at night. And then hope for the best come race day!

What is your best time of day to run or workout? What do you eat before a run or a race?

Thursday's Thrills

Thanks to last night's 2 hours of tornadoes and almost 3 inches of rain, today turned out to be a cooler, windy day with almost no humidity. So the little one and I went to play at the park and enjoyed an early dinner at my favorite sweet tea "brewery" as I like to call them.

We also had a few games of Hi-Hi Cherry-O going while she had to wear her eye patch. She has Amblyopia, otherwise known as lazy eye. She is supposed to be wearing the patch for 6 hours a day! That is no easy feat with a 4 year old! I have to get creative and keep her entertained as much as I can.

Sometimes I think when she's older she's going to hate me for putting pictures of her on a blog and on Facebook for everyone to see. I just love to share her with the world, she's my ray of sunshine!

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As far as running goes, I did run a mile this morning on the treadmill. I only did a mile because it was speed work. I really need to start working on tempo runs. I have read that tempo runs are what prepare you for a half marathon more than any other running workouts. However, speed work has really helped to lower my time per mile. Even with frequent occasional walk breaks, I am still faster than I was 2 months ago!
 
I did mow the grass when we got home today. Mowing straight uphill with a push mower is really great exercise for my legs! And my yard is a huge hill...

 This is just the yard around my driveway. Only a third of what I mow.

Any recommendations for how to incorporate tempo runs into my training schedule? Or just general advice about preparing for a half-marathon?

*I'm adding some info about my upcoming training schedule for the half-marathon in November on my running page above.