Week 5 Half Marathon Training Recap

How have 5 weeks come and gone already?!  Just 10 more weeks and I'll be running the Gate City Half Marathon in Nashua, NH.  Eeek!  Sometimes I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that just 8 months ago I jumped on the neighbor's old treadmill for the first time and jogged a mile at a gingerly 15 mile per minute pace.  Now, here I am training for my first half.  All things considered it's a lofty goal indeed.

Monday

Today's run was supposed to be a circuit followed by SSSC 3.  Since these runs really only amount to a half hour or about 2 miles, my plan was to get it done after work.  That plan was quickly foiled when I was created by an aging corgi at the door who was clearly in pain.  Her back was crumpled up, she was whining and just couldn't get comfortable.  I frantically called our veterinarian's office and got no help.  I called 2 other places and they couldn't see her.  I took the hint, dosed her with more baby aspirin, quickly got the circuit part done (arm circles and the such) and the SSSC 3 and called it good.  I spent the rest of the night snuggling with her on the couch.  In case you are wondering, by Wednesday she was just fine!  

Tuesday

The plan called for 5 easy miles.  My legs and mind were a wreck from Sunday's dehydrated long run so I did 3 and called it good.  I spent a lot of time resting and rolling my legs on this day.

Wednesday

REST DAY!  Hallelujah!  My legs and body just needed it.  Usually, I hate rest day, but not on this day.  I was hurting.  Looking back, I now have first hand experience on why nutrition and hydration are so important for athletes.  If you don't do it right your whole body pays for it.  I did complete the SSSC 3 exercises though.  The Russian twists kill me (in a good way, I think).  

Thursday

Check out my new MRTT shirt!  

My Swag Bag from Another Mother Runner arrived!

Easy 3-5 miles you say?  I set my alarm for what I thought was 4:30 am but it turns out that I just set two alarms for my normal wake up time of 5:30 am.  My body knew something was up because I jolted away at 4:41 am and in a panic got ready for my treadmill run.  I find that if I don't shower the night before than I have even more motivation to get up and get these early morning runs done before work because I'm going to have to get up early for a shower so I might as well get sweaty anyway.  I completed 3 glorious miles. My legs felt so much better!  All of the rolling, hydration and wearing compression socks non-stop paid off.  

Friday

I happily woke up at 4:30 am to get 3 miles in before work.  Legs still felt great and I pushed myself on the pace because I felt that good.  I was supposed to get another round of SSSC 3 in, but it just didn't happen.  I forgot to squeeze it in during the day and by the time I got home from work all I wanted was a dance party in the kitchen and a cold beer!  It's the little things in life, you know?

Saturday - Long Run Day!  

Splits from my Garmin Forerunner 620

8 miles were to be completed today with a 5 minute strong finish.  If you think back, you'll remember that I completed my first 8 mile run, my longest ever, just a few weeks ago.  My goal was to run it without stopping which has been hard lately.  I always seem to need to stretch my calves or my arms or run home for water because I am D-Y-I-N-G.  One of my very good friends, really she is more of a sister to me, texted me to see what my plans were.  We decided to meet up that afternoon once it warmed up to bang out 8 miles.  She's one of the best runners I know so I was worried that my 11 mm race pace would be too slow for her, but she said it was exactly what she needed, plus she did 10 miles of intervals before hand on the treadmill so this was more of a recovery run for her.  

Splits from my Nike Plus running app.

The weather was beautiful, not too cold, not too hot and the sun was out.  This was my first run with a friend and without my music.  I was nervous about that at first, but our conversation made the time go by faster which I appreciated.  I did have some pretty bad side stitches but that could just have been from talking more than normal.  Yes, I did eat my raisins at mile 6 so we did stop for that, but nothing else.  We even conquered 2 big hills and 1 small one!  I'm happy that I was well hydrated for this run, that I ran in a new location with a good friend and just generally got out of my comfort zone.  It's amazing what all of that combined does for your mental focus.

When I got home I treated myself to a good beer, Sebago's Bonfire Rye, and a hot bath with Epsom salts.  I even managed to get a few pages read in my book, Tales from Another Mother Runner.  

Now I'm on to week 6 and my first NINE mile run on this coming Saturday!