Last week was my last “hard” week of training. It was my third week of 60 miles, which is the most mileage I have ever done back to back. Last year when I trained for NYC, I only had one 60 mile week. This year, I knew I needed to do a couple more if I wanted to see improvements on race day.
When I started the week I was feeling pretty blah. I decided I needed an extra day off, and also needed to cut out a hard workout to get me back on track. I am so glad I did because it made the half marathon on Saturday much more enjoyable.
Part One – Training Update
Monday – Off
Tuesday – 8.25 miles at 8:46 pace. Took it nice and easy since I wasn’t feeling that great.
Wednesday – 10.25 miles at 7:44 pace. 2 mile warm up, 6 x 1 mile repeats with 400m recovery. First 3 @ 7:00, Last 3 around 6:55. Cooled down another couple miles. Had to do this one on the treadmill because it was just so darn cold outside.
Thursday – 8.03 miles at 8:09 pace. Had a few pick ups in the middle of the run.
Post run burglar selfie.
Friday – 8.05 miles at 8:34 pace.
Dinner with friends Friday night.
Saturday – 18.25 miles total (see below for more details)
Sunday – 7.55 miles at 9:00 pace. I was so cold and a tad over-served the night before at our friends house. Made for such a fun run.
Total mileage: 60ish
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Part Two – Longview Half Marathon Race Recap
Saturday was my last big long run before taper. I was so excited for this run, and also dreading it. I had 12 miles of goal pace miles on the schedule, so I decided to just run the half marathon hard and take care of the goal pace miles there.
Stacy, Diana and I started the morning with a 4.9 mile warm up. We took it nice and easy (9:20 pace).
The race was out at Longview Lake, which is a beautiful area. It was really cold, but we were lucky to avoid the snow that the weather people had been predicting.
Once we finally got started running (they delayed the race because there was a bad traffic situation), I met up with my friend Amber and ran with her. We ran the first 6 miles with the 1:35 pace group, then separated. I knew I was running too hard for a long training run, and that she could run much faster than 1:35. Once we parted ways I slowed down a bit and gave myself some distance from the 1:35 pace group.
As the miles went on I kept the 1:35 pace group in sight but ran a comfortable pace that I knew I could easily maintain. I felt surprisingly good considering the miles I had done earlier in the week.
Start of the race.
Around mile 11 a girl named Jess came up next to me and told me she was going to run with me for the rest of the race. I was just fine with this since I was getting a little lonely. I also love to run with other people. Jess was really sweet and we had 2 miles of good conversation. It certainly made the last couple miles fly by.
brrrrr.
As Jess and I approached the finish we decided to pick up the pace and catch a girl in front of us. I am so glad I got to meet her and run with her for a bit.
Running to the finish with Jess.
Done with the race and with 18 miles!!
I ended up running a 1:35:15 half which made me pretty happy. It is really exciting for me that I was able to pull off that race after a hard few weeks. And I will say that the course was not flat. Crazy that just 3 years ago I trained hard for a half and ran a 1:36:39. It goes to show what hard work can do for your running. Dedication will pay off.
Amber ended up getting first in our age group, and I got second! That made the morning even better.
Running together for 15 years 🙂
We are ready for taper.
Splits:
- 7:31
- 7:15
- 7:33
- 7:00
- 7:01
- 7:14
- 7:21
- 7:11
- 7:15
- 7:24
- 7:20
- 7:11
- 7:05 (+ :57)
I am SO excited that taper is finally here and I can prepare my body for race day. I got an email yesterday stating it was 19 days away. I semi hyperventilated….
xo,
Ali
miles with style 