Happy Sunday! Is it a heat wave where you are? I know much of the east is getting this really odd heat weave. This weekend it's been in the upper 60s! This November and December has been so mild for us with only one or two really cold days and no snow accumulation. I can't remember it being so mild! While I love cold weather running, I'm not complaining. I've been taking advantage of it and doing lots of fun things outside.
As usual, I'm joining Holly from HoHo Runs and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin for their Weekly Wrap.
This past week was #2 of training for the Just a Short Run Half Marathon, which will be my 8th half marathon. I'm following the Hansons' Half Marathon Method for the second time, though I've made some modifications to the plan (more on that here.)
With being busy this week I didn't get in all the cross training I wanted, though I still got in two strength training sessions, which is my minimum for this phase of training. I also really fell off on planks and only remembered to do them three days.
I started eating more high-quality carbs per the Racing Weight guidelines, and I can already tell the difference in my runs and am feeling stronger.
I'm continuing to do my runs without looking at my watch. I wear it to see the stats after but have been going by feel. My paces are right in line with where I should be per my training plan. I'll need to start looking at my watch when I start doing runs at a specific pace--faster paces are much harder for me to go by feel than easy paces are--so I'm enjoying this watch-free running for right now.
Week at a Glance
- 6 days of running (5 easy runs and and 1 day with hill sprints)
- 28.3 miles of running (51.7 miles so far in this training cycle)
- 5 hours and 55 minutes of running
- 1 session of yoga
- 2 sessions of strength training
- Planks 3 days
- Stretching every day
- Foam rolling twice
Weekly Recap
Monday
Easy run: 4 miles | 49:30 | 12:22 pace (30 degrees and very foggy)
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| Athleta Elite Half Zip, Chi Tank & Windwarrior Tights |
Tuesday
Easy run: 4 miles | 51:06 | 12:46 pace (31 degrees)
I went out after work on Monday with my work friends for a holiday celebration, which essentially meant drinking all night. Because I don't drink much, I was hurting in the morning. I had hill sprints on the schedule, but there was no way I was doing hill sprints, so this became an easy run.
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| Lulu Race Your Pace Longsleeve & Tech Speed Tights |
In the evening I did 23 minutes of full-body strength training followed by foam rolling.
Wednesday
Rest day! I did 20 minutes of yoga. I also took an accidental 2.1-mile walk at lunch. It was a really nice day, and I had a meeting at 1 p.m. in a building a bit farther from my building. I figured I would leave at lunch and take a leisurely walk over, never checking the distance (for those in Pittsburgh, from Oakland to Bakery Square). Um, it was really far! As I realized how long it was taking me and how much farther I had to go, I started booking it. Once I got to the building, there was construction at the only entrance I've gone in, and I had no idea how to get in. I was sweating like crazy. I can't stand being late! But finally I figured it out and was only 11 minutes late for the meeting, which hadn't even started because other people coming from another location had gotten stuck in traffic.
Thursday
Easy run with hill sprints: 5.3 miles | 1:07 | 12:44 pace (47 degrees)
I added 8 10-second hill sprints to this run. When I've done these previously, I just counted in my head instead of programming the workout on my watch. I did that this day too, but I started a new lap for each sprint so I could see what pace I was running afterward. My counting was not very good, I realized. My 10-second sprints were more like 14-second sprints. But I made my last sprint my fastest. I overdressed for this run, not quite believing it was as warm as it was.
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Lulu Mesh with Me Longsleeve & Menthol Fringe Fighter
Athleta Grey Relay Capris & Chi Tank |
In the evening I walked 25 minutes to Downtown to meet my husband Dave after work. We went to Nicky's for Thai for dinner. Now, I've been to Nicky's many times. Whenever I get Thai, I always ask them to leave fish sauce out of the dish. (If you don't know what fish sauce is, don't look it up because it's absolutely disgusting.) I've never had a problem with this request, including at Nicky's. Well, on this night the waitress told me that every single sauce was pre-made with fish sauce, and the only one that wasn't was Pad Thai. I love Pad Thai, but it's one of the least healthy dishes so I rarely get it. I had no choice but to order it. It was really delicious, but I was determined to leave a substantial amount on my plate, which I was happy that I was able to do. Still, I was upset because someone--either this waitress or the wait staff at all the other Thai restaurants I've eaten at--wasn't being honest with me, and it turns my stomach to think how much fish sauce I've accidentally been eating.
After dinner, we walked around Downtown for about an hour to see all the holiday lights then walked the 25 minutes back to our house.
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| The Creche at the US Steel Plaza |
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| Allegheny County Courthouse |
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| Tree at the City-County Building |
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| Window displays at the old Kaufmann's building |
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| Market Square |
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| Tree at Market Square |
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| Tree and ice skating rink at PPG |
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| Dave and me in PPG |
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| Tree at the old Horne's (now Highmark) building |
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| My favorite! Blue and white trees at Point State Park. |
Friday
Easy run: 3 miles | 39:55 | 13:18 pace (51 degrees)
Oof. I was exhausted in the morning from all the walking the evening before and was very glad I had only 3 miles on the schedule.
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| Athlete Elite Half Zip, Chi Tank & Purple Relay Capris |
Saturday
Easy run: 7 miles | 1:24 | 12:03 pace (55 degrees)
I met Anna and Jamie at North Park. It was chilly when we met, but the temps were supposed to rise quickly. I didn't feel like getting my running skirts out of storage and wasn't sure whether to wear a longsleeve or short sleeve top. Because my longsleeve was so light, I decided to wear that along with crops. Ugh! I was dying! I was seriously considering taking off my top altogether and just running in my bra. There are usually cold breezes from the lake, but on this morning we kept feeling really hot breezes. We were a sweaty mess when we were done, but it was a nice run overall that went really quickly. Again, not complaining about the weather--just wished I'd dressed differently.
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Lulu Race Me Longsleeve, Regal Plum Energy Bra,
Space Dye Twist Ultra Violet Multi Pace Rival Crops |
In the afternoon Dave and I took Django back to North Park, and we walked about 2.5 miles on the trails. It got up to 68 degrees, and we enjoyed a fire pit at night in our back yard.
Sunday
Easy run: 5 miles | 1:03 | 12:38 pace (55 degrees)
I learned my lesson and got a skirt out of storage! I wore my Splits59 Olivia Matrix Top for the first time, and it was really perfect. It kept my arms covered from the chill, but the mesh really helped keep me cool.
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December 13 and I'm wearing a skirt!
Splits59 Olivia Matrix Top
Lulu Black Pace Rival Skirt |
Afterward I did 21 minutes of full-body strength training followed by foam rolling. In the afternoon it was again about 68, so we washed the dog outside and then walked to the park and back.
This upcoming week will be a bit tough for me because I have two after-work runs. My body does not like running late in the day because I'm tired and hungry, and it throws off my whole schedule. I'll suck it up, though, because these runs should be fun. Tuesday I'll be running with Jamie and Anna through the holiday lights Downtown, and Thursday Anna and I plan to join the big group run, again through the holiday lights. If you're in Pittsburgh, all are welcome to the Thursday group run, which starts at 6 p.m. Downtown. You can find details at SCRR or Fleet Feet's websites.
Have a great week running and working out!
Labels: Hansons Half Marathon Method, JASR, Just a Short Run, Just a Short Run Half Marathon training, weekend running, weekly recap, weekly wrap
