Sesquicentennial State Park

This week is the beginning of my 9-week half marathon training program. My goal is to stick to it at least 85% of the time, and ideally greater than 90% of the time to score an "A". I won't hate myself if I only score a "B", but really want to be better at sticking to the training program than I did for my marathon training plan. My goal is to either (a) run the ING beside my sister the entire route, or (b) run the ING faster than I did last year. This means I need to stick to a program. I decided on the Hal Higdon Intermediate Half Marathon Training Program. It is a 12-week program and I only have 9 weeks until my race, so I'm just going to skip the first 3 weeks and jump in at week 4. I can do this since I'm not a beginner... Today's schedule called for 3.5 mile run. I had a very upset stomach yesterday afternoon and evening and woke up this morning wondering if it was over. I couldn't possibly have anything left in my system. I felt weak and still not the greatest so I didn't run on the treadmill this morning as was my original plan. I told myself that if I felt better later, I would run when I arrived in Wilmington, NC. If not, this would be one of those "excused absenses" from deviating from the training plan. So, I showered and put on my running clothes. After getting Kyra to school and the dogs to Funnybones, I went to the office and picked up the government vehicle to begin my drive to Wilmington. I was off to a later start than I had hoped. After lunch I started feeling a little better. But because I left so late, I knew it would be dark when I arrived in Wilmington. I remembered that Sesquicentennial State Park is not far off the highway in Columbia, SC. I went running there years ago and enjoyed running on the dirt roads. So, I stopped there mid-afternoon and headed out for my 3.5 mile run. I couldn't remember how long the loop trail was, so I thought I would simply turn around at 1.75 miles. This turned out to be my only choice. At about a 1.5 miles, there was a sign that said the road was closed for the season. So, I made a left turn into the scout camping area, followed the trail to the lake, jogged along the lake a minute or two and then turned around. I hadn't looked at a trail map since this was a last-minute decision, so I wasn't sure if the loop around the lake would eventually lead me back to my vehicle or not. It was so peaceful running through the woods along the dirt road! By the time I got back to the starting point, I had gone 3.61 miles. I felt weak during the run, but truly enjoyed the nature, especially the deer that I heard and then saw scampering through the woods. I consider this an "A+".
http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/common/maps/parksmap/MapSesquicentennial.pdf