Half Marathon Training Day 1

I've finally gotten around to going for a run!  Eek!  Normally, I would laugh about it but seriously, this half marathon isn't that far away at this point and I really need to train.  Rob was totally up for the idea of a jog yesterday since it was absolutely beautiful out.  He has running in the usual places though:  roads, sidewalks, boring neighborhood parks.  He wanted to head over to a cute park near us with lots of trail running but I reminded him that they are lame and close at 4.  So instead, we headed to a different park a little farther away:  Atlantic County Park in Estell Manor.  One of our favorite places!

We headed to the boardwalk trail which runs to the other side of the park where there is mountain biking and equestrian trails.  We knew it would be the longest of the trails so it would force us to get a decent distance of a run in!  My garmin is being bad and my ipod was dead (for Nike+) so I started up my Sporty Pal app on my phone and off we went.  I was all geared up:

It wasn't too crazy hot and the part through the woods was very shady and had a nice cool breeze.  Then we hit a marshy area and it got hot!  Not many bugs except there were dragflies everywhere!  And all different kinds and colors!  A little annoying trying to not suck one into my mouth.  LoL, ew.  So we headed down the trail and got to the well ruins on the other side.  This property was used in WW2 for something or other and the building are all there crumbling.  We took a quick rest. 

At this point, my app said 1.7 miles in 19 minutes so not too bad for an easy run!  The distance was accurate according to markers on the trail.  I'm glad because my app lost my GPS and didn't track us on the way back!  But I knew how long the trail back was and at least I had my time from the app!  I guess someone out there doesn't want me to know how long my runs are, huh?  Anyway, we headed back and checked out the garden.  I made a friend too

Even when Rob touched him, he wouldn't get off my shoe.  Haha!  We finally annoyed him enough and he flew away.  So this run was awesome!  Rob expressed how much he hates running on streets and sidewalks.  We agreed to come to the park once per week for a nice easy run (maybe even my long run days!).  It is so much more enjoyable being on a nice nature trail.  I am glad it wasn't muggy or buggy out.  I probably could have run longer but we called it quits when we got back to the nature center.  I can never tell if I am just the normal tired or if I am done.  That is why I like following planned distances.  No excuse to stop early!  We didn't have a plan for this run so it was ok.  Did about 3.5 miles in 41 minutes!  And every second was enjoyable!