Mile Markers: Training Transitions
Last week’s workouts transitioned into the start of another training segment. I’m running an October half marathon and after enjoying the lazy weeks of summer fun running, I was ready to focus back on hard workouts.
Monday: 12 x 1 minute fartlek (7 miles total) & strength training
The humidity was only 80%, which felt so light and breathable compared to last week. My workout was a short interval fartlek to work on getting some speed back in my legs before progressively more demanding workouts closer to the race. I naturally run faster as a workout goes, so I ran these as almost a progression, starting around a 6:25 pace and cutting down to 6:08 pace.
For strength training, I stuck with a few basic movements: front squats, hip thrusts, barbell push presses, box jumps, and lat pull downs, and then I finished off the workout with some core work.
Tuesday: 5 miles easy
Ollie tires more quickly on summer runs, so we kept this run to a short five miles.
Wednesday: 3 mile tempo run (7 miles total)
With a temperature 70+ degrees at 8 AM and an even higher heat index, I knew this run would be a sweaty one. I warmed up for 2.25 miles and then ran 3 miles at tempo effort. Given the warmer weather and menstrual cramps, I was pretty darn pleased with my pace – 7:17, 7:16, 7:10. Not a bad place to start for a new training cycle!
I didn’t strength train, though. I can push through fatigue and cramps for one workout, but double workouts just sound extra daunting.
Thursday: 5 miles easy & Pilates
I split this run into 3 miles with Ollie and 2 miles with Charlie. Normally I rest on Thursdays, but I wanted to complete all my runs before the weekend so we could go camping.
Friday: 12 mile long run
The lower humidity this week really did make such a difference! It was 65 at the start of this run, and I kept a comfortable 8:20/mile average pace for this run. The route had a couple decent hills – about 340 feet of gain – but a majority of it was relatively flat.
Saturday: Camping
After last week’s camping fiasco, we left home at 6 AM and arrived at the Pacific Coast by shortly before 10 AM. We were able to find a campsite right on the beach – because of a downpour. We patiently waited out the rain in the back of the car, playing card games and chess. By 2 PM, the rain ceased, so we took the dogs to the beach to run around and splash in the waves. Charlie attempted to eat all the crabs washed up with the high tide, while Ollie ran in circles around the sand.
Sunday: Camping
We awoke to gray skies and choppy waves on the ocean, but at least it wasn’t raining. We enjoyed the views with some coffee and breakfast before starting the long journey home. Sundays typically have awful traffic closer to the city and it took us about 5 hours to get home. But all the driving was well worth it for a weekend of camping on the oceanside.
[Tweet “The first week back into half marathon training and a weekend camping by the ocean via @thisrunrecipes #running #weeklywrap #runchat”]
How was your week in running?
Would you prefer to vacation by the ocean or the mountains?
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15 Responses
Great job with your first week back to training! Hopefully your runs will feel even better as the weather starts to cool off this fall. I prefer vacations by the ocean, but I think going to the mountains would be fun just to do something different!
It’s crazy how much the temps dropped here over the weekend. 90 degrees to 68 is a huge difference! I put on long sleeves in a very, very long time. Camping at the beach sounds amazing! Those spots are so hard to get around here. They usually are reserved a year in advance!
A few of our campgrounds on the coast don’t do reservations at all – which both is more convenient (you don’t have to plan a trip so far in advance) and annoying (like last week!). I bet 68 degrees felt amazing!
Looks like a great kick-off to marathon training! I like how you worked in some camping too. What a beautiful spot!
Thank you! It was a beautiful spot – well worth the several hours of driving!
Your quick camping getaway sounds fantastic! And there were some beautiful pictures, too!!!
Thank you! We went to South Beach Campground near Kalaloch (the Kalaloch campground books up faster, and this one is directly on the beach). It’s a long drive through Tacoma and Olympia but well worth it!
Sounds like the rain worked out in your favor! I have no tolerance for sand and saltwater getting everywhere, so I’d have to choose mountain camping over the beach even though I live in the mountains anyway.
The sand is way more packed down than the sand on one of the Great Lakes (for example) – although we didn’t go much into the water to avoid tracking sand all over our camp gear. The mountain passes can be really muddy here due to all the rain we get, so it’s sort of a trade off.
by the ocean for sure! glad you had a nice weekend and a great week of training.
What a great week of training and your paces are looking great – especially the tempo run with cramps!!
Love that you were able to camp on the beach, even though the weather wasn’t ideal. I sat in some traffic myself on the way home from the Cape this past weekend but the boys were in my husband’s car so it was actually kinda nice 🙂
Thank you! I hope you enjoyed your trip to the Cape – and the quiet time in the car!
The breaks in humidity have been so nice! I’m excited for you to begin another focused segment of training.
Thank you! It’s humid again this week, so I’m extra grateful now for the breaks last week!
Nice week of transition! I’m still patiently waiting for lower humidity. Our dew point remains about 75 each morning. Coupled with the temperature, it is just miserable. Camping at the ocean sounds fun. What a pretty sunset you captured after the rain. I like both the mountain and the beach. But, the beach is much easier to get too so we go often. Thanks for linking!