Marathon to Half Training Week #4

Well this week was interesting. If I had to describe it in one word I would say "HUMIDITY!" Holy crapoly. I'm an Arkansan, so I'm no stranger to humidity but this week has been insane. In all my springs and summers of running, I don't remember it feeling this poopy. The mornings this week have all been 80-95% humidity. The one day I ran in the afternoon, it was 86 degrees! YUCK. It's May, right?! I promise I'm not whining...just calling it how it is. I actually LOVE summer running. I think I just need another week to get used to it.

 

Training this week was switched up a little bit since we were out of town last week/weekend. I took Monday as my rest day for our trip back home. Then I had a 6 day running streak! I'm finally back to my normal, not training for a full, mileage range. Here are my workouts from this week:

 

Monday- Rest

Tuesday- 5.01 miles, 9:49 average pace

Wednesday-7 mile Fartlek, 8:49 average pace

Thursday- 5.04 miles, 8:39 average pace

Friday- 14 miles, 9:27 average pace

Saturday- Corporate Challenge 5k, stroller run with James, 23:52

Sunday- 10.36 miles, 8:46 pace

 

 

The good and the bad:

 

• Donut Run=GOOD. I love donuts. You know that already. If you tell me to meet at one of my favorite donut shops for the start of a run, I'm not going to argue with you. So, Thursday, I did not argue with my friends.

  
• Fartlek Run=GOOD and BAD. It was bad because it wasn't my plan. I was supposed to do 3x 1 mile repeats at 5k pace with half mile recovery. I wanted a total of 7 miles with my warm up and cool down.  This was the day I just didn't want to get out of bed so I opted for an afternoon run. NOT SMART. It was 86 degrees when I ran but the humidity was much lower than the morning. I was so freaking hot. I did my warm up and was on pace for the first half mile of my first repeat. A tenth of a mile later, I reached the biggest hill Upper Arlington had to offer. I was like "Heck no I'm not running 5k pace up this thing in this heat!" It was good because it was my first Fartlek run ever and I still had the chance to go faster when I felt like it.

  
• Long Run=25% GOOD/75%BAD. Felicia gets all of my 25% good because she is great company :) The weather and my body get the bad. To make a long story short, I felt like crap...tired, my knee hurt after 12 miles which forced me to stop and stretch for a minute after 13 miles...Ugh.

  
• Sunday=GOOD. A semi-longish run at a much faster pace, no pain, less tired, great company, and the Fab Five together on the same run again!!

  
• 5k=GOOD. Outside of today, it was the highlight of my running week. I was able to run a familiar 5k route in downtown Cbus, mostly on the trail, and do it while pushing James in the stroller! I'll post more about it later this week!

  

 

Overall, I'm glad the week is over! It had its ups and downs but the ups definitely outweighed the downs. This coming week will be a taper, of sorts, for my half on Saturday. It will be my first big evening race!