Happy Sunday! I'm joining Holly from HoHo Runs and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin for their Weekly Wrap.
This was my first week of training for the Just a Short Run Half Marathon, but it's exactly what I've been doing for the past month so wasn't very exciting. I did run into a challenge though. My runs this week felt pretty sluggish. I'm pretty sure that restricting what I'm eating on Weight Watchers has a lot to do with it. I'm eating very little carbs, and I know from experimenting this year that I run much better when I eat more high-quality carbs. But even the high-quality carbs are still a lot of points on Weight Watchers. For example, a whole-wheat bagel is 8 points. I get 26 points a day so a bagel is a lot, which is why I don't eat them now. Instead, I'm eating thin buns or whole-wheat English muffins (the generic kind, not Thomas' which are not vegan btw), both 3 points but also both much lower in carbs. Sigh. This is why I wanted to focus on losing the last pounds this year and start training in January, but I guess I figured starting training this month wouldn't be bad because it's mostly all easy runs. The good part is that once I get into higher mileage, I'll be able to eat all the carbs my body needs without gaining. For now it's a tricky balance, and I'll just have to work on it.
The weather we've been having is truly a gift. It's cold in the mornings when I run but usually warms up and is nice during the day.
Week at a Glance
- 4 days of easy running and 1 day of easy running plus hill sprints
- 23.4 miles of running
- 4 hours and 56 minutes of running
- 2 sessions of yoga
- 1 session of Pilates
- 3 sessions of strength training
- Planks 6 days (Of course I forgot on one day!)
- Stretching every day
- Foam rolling twice
Weekly Recap
Monday
Easy run: 4 miles, 51:51, 12:37 pace (32 degrees, feels like 25)
Evening: 10 minutes Pilates abs workout with toning circle followed by 10 minutes of yoga
Tuesday
Easy run with hill sprints: 4.3 miles, 56:32, 13:09 pace (44 degrees and rain)
After a 1.5-mile warm-up, I did 7 10-second hill sprints. This was my slowest pace of the week! I think I just slowed down way, way too much on the recovery after the hill sprints, which really brought my pace down.
Wednesday
Rest day! 18 minutes of yoga
Thursday
Easy run: 5 miles, 1:04:38, 12:56 pace (33 degrees, feels like 27)
I ran through Point State Park to see the holiday lights, which were so pretty! On this run I learned that 5 miles is too far to run on only 6 ounces of juice. This is one of those Weight Watchers battles, because 6 ounces of juice is 2 points but 8 ounces is 3, so I went with less. I was running on empty at the end, so I'll need to either start drinking more juice or eat some dates along with the juice. Juice and dates are my go-to snacks for quick energy if I don't have time to eat and digest an actual meal before I start running.
Evening: 18 minutes of upper body strength training
Friday
Morning: 35 minutes of lower body and core strength training
Saturday
Easy run: 6 miles, 1:10:40, 11:47 pace (33 degrees)
I met Anna at North Park to run the lake loop. There was frost everywhere, and it was gorgeous! This was supposed to be an easy run, but for some reason we were going at a faster pace. The overall pace ended up being 10 seconds/mile faster than I should be running long runs, and this run wasn't supposed to be at long run pace. This upcoming week I need to work on keeping my easy runs easy.
In the afternoon it warmed up a lot and was sunny. We met Django's greyhound buddies for a 2.25-mile walk through Schenley Park.
Sunday
Easy run: 4.1 miles, 52:04, 12:43 pace (33 degrees)
I headed to Frick Park to run the trails. I know I ran some downhills and flat parts, but it felt like I was running uphill the whole run because I ran on so many hills. It was a gorgeous morning, though, and nice to be out in the woods.
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| 9 Mile Run, which runs through Frick Park |
Afterward I did 20 minutes of lower body strength training. In the afternoon we went on another 2+mile walk with Django over to the park and back.
Tonight I started my Christmas cookie baking (Peppermint Chocolate Chip!), and Django took up a supervisory role. He stayed about two inches behind me so that I kept tripping over him and then closely watched every single thing I put in the bowl.
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| Are you baking anything for me? |
This upcoming week I'll start running on Fridays for six days of running. Happy running and working out this week!
Labels: django, half marathon training, JASR, Just a Short Run Half Marathon training, weekend running, weekly recap, weekly wrap
