Half Marathon Training, Between Week 7 and 8

If you’ve been following me here this shouldn’t be any surprise, but for the rest of you and for my posterity, here is how last week went.  It was a super short week due to the Vegasing.

Wednesday: 50 mins DDR and yoga

Check and check.  Man, this was even rough.  I think standing and walking is more tiring than running.  Or it could be the partying until sunrise.  No, can’t be that.  Must be the standing and walking

Thursday: 4.5  mile run and weights at the gym

Check and check.  Was a nice outside run in the morning though I DID NOT WANT to get up AT ALL EVER after being on vacation but I did it and I didn’t die.  I think the gym is getting busier because it seems harder to get on the weight machines I want, even on a Thursday.

Friday: 9 mile run

Almost check.  I mapped out my run AFTER and found out it was only 8.75.  Oops.  Close enough, right?  I tried the sport beans this time and they were my absolute favorite.  I also strapped on my camelback and after tying down the front, it was fairly non-annoying.  And it was totally worth it – I drank the whole thing on the run.  I also felt, though I was indeed tired, after about mile 7 I could have just kept plodding along for a few more (but probably would have just wanted to go die instead of going to work), so this bodes well for actually reaching the distance.

Vacation: Bike adventure or other activity

Total uncheck.  Friday’s run and subsequent partying until dawn (Again? Why?  What am I thinking?) wiiiiiped me out.  Saturday we sat around all day and then had evening plans, and Sunday we had errands and chores and had to fit in Star Trek somewhere, and then it was dark.  It’s probably for the best I didn’t push myself (I was also feeling almost like I was coming down with something Sunday – feel better today though), but it makes me all the more motivated to have a bike adventure this coming weekend.

Total week 6 mileage (running):  13.25 (plus a ton of walking)

I’d be disappointed with that, but I did it in 2 days.  That’s pretty bad ass, no?

Week 8 – back to normal.

Monday: Weights at home, 4.5 mile run

Tuesday: 40 min tempo run (5 mins jog, 30 mins tempo (try to beat my 8:20, 5 mins jog), yoga

Wednesday: yoga and 50 mins of DDR

Thursday: 4.5 mile run and weights at the gym

Friday: 10 mile run (holy crap – double digit run!)

Weekend: Rest and planning on a bike trail ride on Sunday.  Zliten is going to scope it out this week.  If it’s way too epic, maybe just another ride somewhere out there for lunch.

Things I learned last week:

1.  I think as long as I make it to mile 8 in the half without pushing too hard, I think I’ll be fine.  At 9 miles I felt like I could keep going.  I felt like I would be pretty wasted afterwards (not like I wasn’t, but I was able to function and attend a full day of work without a rest).  I think I’m going to run this 10, and if I can do it, actually put down the money and book the hotel and really do this puppy.  No, I haven’t done it yet.  Yes, that makes me a wuss or something.

2.  I’m going to try to keep up the strength training at it’s current level this week.  I am definitely not getting stronger (weight training-wise), and I want to stave off getting weaker.  I’m just not sure next week when short runs are 5 miles that I’ll be able to keep up with 2 full body sessions a week.  I’ve also considered shortening one short run.  Any advice?  Would you cut down to the equivalent of 1 – 1.5 full body sessions per week of weights in favor of running or keep the sessions and run a little less one day?  I think the smart thing would probably be cut the weights a bit since I’m training for running, but…I dunno.  I have a week to decide anyway.

3.  I think part of the success on the long run last week was the camelback.   Seriously – water anytime you want without carrying a bottle?  Awesome!  I think that the sport beans worked well with it – munch a bean, sip some water, munch a bean, sip some water.  I think for racing, since I won’t have the camelback, I might stick to the moons because they were easier to get down fast right before a water stop.   The gel kinda upset my stomach (I think it was just so much sugar ALLATONCE) so I think I’m going to stay away from it.  For those of you out there who have run the distance, how many munchies did you bring?  I’m considering bringing 2 (one at 45 mins, one at 1:30) but is that excessive?

4.  I also tried listening to podcasts instead of music and strangely enough it was good to lose myself in the babble.  I’m surprised I didn’t miss the beat of the music at all.  Fast runs, I don’t think it would work.  Long/mellow runs?  Super.

5.  I’m not quite sure what was with the grumps/introspection/etc last week but I think I’m out of it.  I had a bit more rest this weekend than I would have liked (I really wanted to bike/skate/walk/something), but I think it paid off because I feel rested, confident, and ready to tackle this week instead of fearful of the sheer amount of activity I was going to ask my body to do.  I was afraid this was going to be like the pushup challenge – I was so excited about it but then I hit week 6 and I could only do 45 – so I stopped doing it because it was taking up a lot of my workout time.  I can still do about 40, but I really wanted to say I could do 100 pushups.  At least this time, I’m about 3/4 there already with a month left to go and can actually visualize myself completing this.

I hope these aren’t getting tedious.  I just want to have a record of this to look back on!  Later this week, I’ll have more varied fare, I promise!