To 'Bite or Get Bitten?

Sheesh… I’m tired today. All those tornado sirens that kept going on and off all night interrupted my 8 hours. Granted, I appreciate their warnings, but every time I woke up, I thought to myself…. I live on the fourth floor. I’m pretty sure my bed is going to be just as safe as my closet if a tornado would hit (I did, however, make sure to wear a shirt and shorts to bed, just in case I woke up lying in the middle of the street or dangling from a tree or whatnot). Anyway, so I just rolled over and went back to sleep. But all that waking up caused some really freaky dreams, which further interrupted my sleep cycle. So, here I am at work… bleary-eyed and pounding the caffeine, but grateful that I woke up in my bed, safe and sound.

I have a training plan issue coming up. Well, actually a couple, but the first I think I’ve gotten figured out.

This is week 6 of Higdon’s Advanced 1 Marathon Training plan and so it’s a step-back week. Which works out well, because I’m tinkering with the schedule this week, and step-back weeks are the best weeks to tinker. My friend Sara is coming to visit! (Woo hoo!), so instead of taking Friday off, I plan on running the 7 mile pace run that is scheduled for Saturday on Friday morning, so that I will have one morning off this weekend and then run my 10 mile long run on Saturday or Sunday). I love it when a plan comes together.

Last Year at the Frostbite Half-Marathon:
So, the real issue is next weekend. Next weekend is the Frostbite Half Marathon. April and I ran this race last year (it was at a different park, though) and while she hated it, I loved it! It even snowed! Anyway, the race is on Saturday and I really want to run it. For one, I really feel like I can improve on my best half time which is currently 2:21 (and that was in a race that I really struggled in. The heat killed me). I crossed the half mark at the Memphis marathon at 2:07:04. So, I’d really like to make that an official PR.

So, here’s the deal. My training plan has this for next weekend:

Friday: Rest
Saturday: 8 mile pace run
Sunday: 16 miles
Monday: 3 miles

Ok, I need the 16 miler. I can’t forgo long runs. I’m just a little nervous about running a half marathon race the day before my long run. I know that I can do it, it’s just that I’ve never ran that much mileage in back-to-back days. And, part of me thinks that I shouldn’t stray that far from my training plan. But, I really want to run this race. Ugh. What’s a girl to do?

I gotta decide by tomorrow morning, too… so I can save 7 bucks. Honestly, I've pretty much already decided, but I'm going to sleep on it for one more night.