Half Marathon Training: Week #8

Coming off my "racing high" from last week, I had pretty high expectations for this week. However, apparently I suck at arranging my runs to hit my intended distance (whether ahead of time or on the fly) and ended up short on a couple. Frustrating as that is, it honestly ended up being only about 1/2 mile short total, so I can't be too awful mad about it.

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 4.4 mile easy run

I felt surprisingly good for only two days post-race. A little bit on the tired side, but that was to be expected.

Tuesday: 4 mile easy run

I originally had this run scheduled for Wednesday, but I had the rare opportunity to go for a run with one of my friends at a different park, so of course I jumped on it. Can I just say how impressed I am with her still running at 25 weeks pregnant? Of course it involved one pee stop (which is to be expected), but seriously? I just hope I can have that kind of motivation and willpower when I'm pregnant.

Wednesday: 6 x 400m hill workout + Strength

I went back and forth all morning debating which speed work to do on Wednesday after waking up to heavy rain. Surprisingly, things cleared up by the early afternoon and the temps hit the mid 60s so that made the choice easy. Outside to the hill I went.

I trudged up and down that dang hill 5 times at a run then once more at a walk. By the time I made it outside it was about that time of day when the kiddies were getting dropped off by the buses from school and I had to run by the crossing guard 20 million times. I know exactly what she was thinking, too:

I might just have to agree with her.

Thursday: 40 minute tempo run

I was a little worried about this run as I was still hearing about the previous day's hill workout from my hamstrings and glutes. But I was determined to get both my hard workouts in this week, so I drug the hubby to the gym (totally against his will) and pushed through. I started out with an easier 9:13 pace for the first 5 minutes, dropping to 9:05 for the next 5, gradually building to a 7:54 pace by 32:30, then dropping back to 9:05/9:13 for the final 5 minutes.

Friday: 2 Indoor Soccer Games

Um, yeah. So this was supposed to be my "easy" day. 1 game. Until I got a call from the hubby asking if I would be willing to play for another team in an earlier game. In a lower division on the open (no boards) field. Sure. Why not? Then I found out it was against a higher division team. Sweet. So chalk that up for a third hard day in a row.

Saturday: 10.6 mile run

I woke up Saturday morning pretty much exhausted from the past few days. This did not bode well for my planned 12 mile run. As I have a few extra weeks to play with before my half, I knew running a 12 miler wasn't absolutely critical today. I figured I would start the run, then decide how I felt.

Crappy. That's how. At least for the first 6 miles. The majority of our run consists of out and back portions, which doesn't really bother me, except when it's crazy windy out. Which is exactly how it was on Saturday. Going into the wind really started draining me from the get-go, which didn't help the fact that I really just wanted to curl up on the couch and do nothing all day.

I decided at the very least I would aim for 10 miles, tacking on an extra bit right before the turn around about mile 7 for 11 miles if I felt like it. And maybe even add on an additional mile (to make 12) if some miracle happened and I was feeling amazing. Well, I did actually feel strong enough to add on the first bit, but slightly miscalculated the extra distance I was adding and wound up shorting my goal by about 0.4 miles. Oh well.


So, goal for next week? Actually running the right amount of mileage, and not overdosing on speed work!

Gotta say though, I'm pretty happy with how my training over the month of February has panned out. I have to admit, I think the very mild weather we've had has helped a ton!