I am so behind on so many things. I have a LONG list of things I want to accomplish this week once both boys are in school. It’ll be good to keep myself busy. I’ll admit I’m going to miss my Marky. He’s been my buddy for the last two years. But the freedom to get things done without so much “help” will be nice.
So here’s catch-up on my half marathon 2.0 training. Weeks 7 and 8. I have to say I am REALLY enjoying training for a half again. I no longer fear the distances. I look forward to them, ready to conquer them. And maybe to see how much faster I can run them than last time. I have shaved a full minute per mile off my long run times and my speedwork is getting quite fast. I’m encouraged by my progress and I’m hoping I can keep it up and not hit a dreaded plateau.
Monday 8/4 – Easy 6mi – 1:01:08 (10:11 pace)
This ended up being an easy shake-out after my sprint triathlon the day before. I was SORE, but this run got rid of some of that. This used to be such a foreign concept to me. If I was sore, I used to want to sit around and hope it would go away soon. Now I know the way to get the creaks out is to run them out again.
Tuesday 8/5 – Speedwork – 3.55mi – 32:39 (9:11 pace)
Track night! I did a 1mi warm-up. We were told to do a 2mi progressive run, starting at marathon pace and ending at 10K pace. I’m not really certain what my marathon pace would be, so I went with my current training paces. I did 1/2mi at each 10:30, 10:00, 9:30, and 9:00. It was hard, but I got it done!
Wednesday 8/6 – REST
Thursday 8/7 – Flying Angels Practice – 4.09mi – 38:49 (9:29 pace)
This was supposed to be 3mi easy. I did not want to run after work, but Noel made me put running clothes on for John’s Flying Angels XC practice. I ended up running 2mi solo before the kids started and then got talked into running with the younger Angels who were doing 4×800. I was to keep them on a 9:00 pace, which worked out pretty well for me and them.
Friday 8/8 – Long Run 9mi – 1:33:14 (10:21 pace)
I was stuck on the treadmill, but I toughed it out and got it done. This is exactly 1min/mile faster than my long run from the previous training cycle. PROGRESS!
Saturday 8/9 – Monday 8/11 REST
Lots going on, so I didn’t get any workouts in. Back to school prep.
Tuesday 8/12 – 7mi Easy – 1:09:25 (9:54 pace)
I was stuck on the treadmill because I needed the kidzone. I pushed hard for a sub-10 pace and got it.
Wednesday 8/13 – Speedwork – 4.25mi – 40min (9:24 pace)
We missed track practice this week because of John’s open house. I decided to do The Kevin on the treadmill. I think this was my first time doing speedwork on the treadmill, outside of tempo miles. I was DRENCHED by the time I was done. AWESOME workout.
Thursday 8/14 – Easy 3mi – 26:02 (8:40 pace) and 1200yd swim
My YMCA’s track is FAST (short). Ok…it might be short, but it’s still fun to be this fast every once in a while. After my 3 miles, I hit the pool and did my longest swimmy to date. I felt good in the water. I didn’t get to squeeze a bike in this week…bummer.
Friday 8/15 – Mowed the entire yard
Hello XTing. Our yard is good-sized and we have an old school push mower…not self-propelled. I have a wicked blister on my hand to prove it.
Saturday 8/16 – Long Run 8mi – 1:17:53 (9:44 pace)
I saved my long run to do with Noel. We headed to the Downtown YMCA, which has a 6 laps to a mile track. 48 circles with my favorite guy and we really pushed each other. Great run!
Week 7 total: 22.64 running miles
Week 8 total: 22.26 running miles, 0.68 swimming miles, 22.94 miles total
Two solid weeks! This week will be interesting. I’m supposed to do my first double digit run on the plan. But I have my second sprint triathlon on Saturday. I might try to push my long run back to next week. Or I might try to squeeze it in on Thursday. We’ll see how I feel.
Neon Runner Girl 