Last week I bit the bullet, whipped out my Visa and registered for the Blue Nose half marathon. Now that I'll be losing 60 bones if I wimp out and talk myself out of running, I think I'm much more likely to actually do it. Still, clicking submit on the registration form made me dry heave a little.

This week's training went pretty well, but sadly it was all on the treadmill. Even on days when it wasn't a gazillion degrees below zero, the sidewalks are still a mess. Since the run will be taking place in late May, when there won't be any snow (THERE BETTER NOT BE!!) I figure that running in snow and ice isn't going to prepare me any better than the treadmill will, and there's more of a chance of me bailing and hurting myself. So I stayed inside, where it's warm and dry. And boring.

Last week looked like this:

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: 5K, 00:26 (an 8:22 pace) plus 15 minutes on the elliptical.
Wednesday: 4-mile pace run, 00:36. Major stomach drama for the first three miles and I was really tempted to just quit.
Thursday: 5K, 00:28 (9:00 pace). I did the very hilly program on the treadmill. This run was slower than I'd have liked because yet again I was trying not to projectile vomit and felt like there was a brick in my stomach.
Friday: Rest.
Saturday: 9 miles, 1:20 (8:55 pace). I was happy with this run although I was next to the world's stinkiest man who was power-walking and stopped every four or five minutes to STRETCH HIS ARMS ABOVE HIS HEAD and emit visible clouds of BO. It didn't feel disgustingly hard, just boring. I watched the Flip This House marathon and attempted to not pass out from inhaling the fumes off Captain Sweat Stains to my right.
Sunday: Cross training day. I walked the dog for 45 minutes? Does that count?

Boo-urns to the stomach issues Wednesday and Thursday. I'm pretty sure I'm just not giving my food enough time to settle before I start bouncing it around in there.

During the week, with Pete's work schedule and the baby duties, I need to go to the gym in the evenings - morning and daytime won't work. Pete gets home between 6:00 and 6:30 most nights, and Eli goes to bed by 7:00. We usually try to eat dinner before we get Eli ready for bed, then I head to the gym around 7:30. That gives me about an hour for my food to digest, but clearly that's not enough time. Neither of my meals those days were particularly big or rich or heavy. One was a turkey sub and the other was sushi.

On Saturday, we went out for breakfast and I had a big omelet, toast and some homefries and I was fine running even with all that food. I also waited about two hours before I went to the gym, so I'm guessing two hours is the magic number.

So this week, I'm going to try to wait and have dinner when I get back from the gym and just have a snack before I go to tide me over, like some almonds or a banana. I want to get to the root of this problem before May so I know exactly what and when to eat before tackling the half. The last thing I need is to be yakking my brains out at Mile 2 on race day.