Mile Markers: Inspired

Last week was the biggest week in terms of workouts before my half marathon. My two big workouts went really well and left me feeling confident for race day, and beyond that, I’m really inspired to race hard right now. I keep rewatching videos of Desi’s Boston Marathon victory for inspiration. She showed such grit and strength!  It’s a really awesome time for women’s running right now. 

Monday: 6 mile easy run

It was pouring rain and cold, although not as rainy and cold as it was in Boston. I delayed my run to watch the Boston Marathon, since the women’s elite race started at 6:30 AM Pacific time. Around noon, I leashed up Ollie and took him out for six easy miles. I wish I could count this run as Ollie’s bath for the week as well, because he was drenched by the end of the run.

Tuesday: 5 x 1 mile at 10K pace (9 miles total)

This was a workout where I just showed up, focused on one mile at a time, and surprised myself. My warm-up was slower than normal and I did not feel especially peppy, but you can never judge a workout by the warm-up. Somehow, my speed managed to show up for the mile repeats at 10K pace – 6:53, 6:54, 6:58, 6:54, 6:56, with 3 minutes easy jog in between each. It feels sort of weird to write out those numbers in my own log for this type of workout.

Wednesday: 7 mile easy run

When I run with the dogs, Charlie always goes first. He can crank out an 8:xx/mile if he wants to, but that’s only if he’s trying to chase Ollie on a family run. We kept a light and easy effort for three miles, and then I quickly switched dogs. That’s another reason Charlie runs first: Ollie will wait directly by the door so I can grab him and only lose a minute or less between runs, while Charlie will hide under the kitchen table and I have to wrangle him. Ollie and I ran an easy 4 miles to finish off the run. 

Thursday: Rest day

My hunger intensifies on rest days during the peak of training. I ate a lot this day – all good, nutritious food choices but plenty of calories and volume. My go-tos this week are the Superhero Muffins and the Kale-Radicchio Farro salad from Run Fast, Eat Slow. And homemade bread, because I can’t resist fresh out of the oven bread and rest days are a great day to bake.

Friday: 4 x 2 miles at goal pace (13 miles total)

This was my peak workout in half marathon training: 4 x 2 miles at goal race pace, with 5 minute recovery jogs and enough warm-up and cooldown to turn it into a 13 mile run. I ran this on a completely flat route to mimic the race terrain and on my way to the trail, I listened to Desi Linden’s interview on The Morning Shakeout for inspiration. 

My repeats felt steady and controlled, even by the last mile of the final repeat. My splits were 7:20, 7:16; 7:19, 7:13; 7:16, 7:12; and 7:18, 7:06. I practiced my fueling during the half marathon pace repeats. I’m hoping to feel this good on race day – and the sunny, 40 degree weather would be great on race day as well! 

Saturday: 6 mile easy run

My legs felt like I had worked appropriately hard the day before: I was recovered enough to not be sluggish, but my average paces was over two minutes per mile slower than my goal half marathon pace. The weather was gorgeous and I was running with Ollie and Ryan which made this run enjoyable. 

Sunday: Strength training

I plan on tapering down strength training after this workout. I spent 30 minutes completing kettlebell swings, other kettlebell exercises, pull-ups, and mini band exercises. For the pull-ups, I stepped up into the raised pull-up, lowered down until my arms were at 90 degrees, and then raised back up – pull-up progress! 

Linking up with Weekly Wrap! 

How was your week in running?
What or who is inspiring you?