Mile Markers: Start of Season

Last week kicked off the start of spring half marathon training, with two hard workouts and a whole lot of winter weather. 

I finished reading Your Best Stride and revamped my dynamic warm-up this week. All of the exercises were ones I’ve done in warm-ups throughout the years, but never in a single warm-up: arm swings (working from hip height to chest height), walking lunges, lateral lunges, and leg swings. 

Monday: 4 mile trail run

Before we drove home, Ryan and I ran along a dirt segment of the Deschutes River Trail near our hotel in Bend. A couple inches of snow lined the ground, which made the scenery all the more beautiful. 

Tuesday: Ladder fartlek (7 miles total)

The conditions were ideal for a speed workout: chilly, partly cloudy, no significant wind, and no precipitation. 

This workout comes from Run Faster from the 5K to Marathon and it’s one I’ve repeated over the past couple years because it’s really fun. After a 15 minute warm-up, I ran 1-2-3-2-1-2-3-2-1 hard with equal time recovery intervals. I felt strong, my stride felt smooth, and I ran 6:16 (!) to 6:40 for the intervals. 

 

Wednesday: 5 mile easy run & strength training

Ollie was literally vibrating from excitement at the start of this run, especially since he hadn’t run in almost a week. (It didn’t help that a flock of docks were immediately in our path at the start of the run). 

Thursday: Hills-tempo-hills (7 miles total)

The snow melted and refroze, leaving slippery roads and sidewalks. I could have waited for the ice to melt, but I really just wanted to complete my run before starting any work. I opted for the treadmill so I could get in my second hard workout of the week without risking a slip. 

The workout is one I borrowed from Competitor Running: a hills-tempo sandwich. After a 2-mile warm-up with rolling hills (using the automatic inclines on one of the simulation courses on the treadmill), I ran 4 x 30 seconds uphill (7%) hard with approximately 60 second recovery jogs, 2 minutes easy, 3 miles at tempo pace (7:19), 2 minutes easy, 2 x 30 seconds uphill (7%) hard with 60 second recovery jogs, and 1/2 mile cool down. 

I used two of the courses in the treadmill that simulated running through New Zealand (for the warm-up) and Germany (for the tempo run), which helped immensely with the mental aspect. Seeing moving scenery, even if on a screen, helped me cope with the mental monotony of the treadmill. 

Friday: 10 mile long run

Ryan and I did something completely different: we did our long run in the afternoon. Honestly, running in the afternoon is not something I would do without company – especially for a run this long. We ended up running 10 miles instead of 13, due to the wind and my stomach feeling a bit off. 

Saturday: Rest day 

My mom was visiting, so we took Ollie and Charlie out to the dog park. Ollie and Charlie ran all around and Ollie even swam, despite 40-degree temperatures.  We also saw Black Panther again so my mom could see it and that movie was even more incredible at the second viewing. 

Sunday: Snowshoeing

Ryan, my mom, and I headed out to the mountains for a short snowshoe excursion! Almost a foot of fresh powder had fallen in the past 24 hours and we had a blast snowshoeing.

[Tweet “A first week of half marathon training and a wintery weekend via @thisrunrecipes #runchat #running”]

Linking up with Weekly Wrap! 

How was your week in running?