Half marathon training – Weeks 7,8,9 – A long rest but I’m back at it now
Here’s an update on my last three weeks of half marathon training.
Week 7
I had less than three days in Seattle between coming back from Whistler and leaving for England and Scotland. I would have liked to have squeezed both a tempo and a long run in here but decided that wasn’t realistic. Instead I focused on putting a good effort into my long run.
| 24/03 | - | Downhill skiing on Whistler |
| 25/03 | 5.0 miles | Easy run: avg 11:40 min/mile |
| 26/03 | 10.0 miles | Long run: avg 158 bpm, 12:05 min/mile |
| 27/03 | 5.0 miles | Easy run: avg 158 bpm, 12:23 min/mile (fly to England) |
| 28/03 | - | Arrive in England |
| 29/03 | - | Vacation in England |
| 30/03 | - | Vacation in England |
| Total | 20.0 miles | YTD: 303.4 miles |
Week 8
I did not run at all while I was in Scotland. I brought my running gear with me but just couldn’t quite bring myself to wake up early enough to go running. Honestly I didn’t put much pressure on myself to get out running and I don’t feel at all guilty about having a zero mileage week!
| 31/03 | - | Travel to Scotland |
| 01/04 | - | Vacation in Scotland |
| 02/04 | - | Vacation in Scotland |
| 03/04 | - | Vacation in Scotland |
| 04/04 | XT | 4 hour hike in the Pentland Hills |
| 05/04 | - | Vacation in Scotland |
| 06/04 | - | Travel to Seattle |
| Total | 0 miles | YTD: 303.4 miles |
Week 9
I gave myself one “jet lag” day after flying back to Seattle and then dove head first back into training. Tuesday’s run was my slowest run ever. Sigh. I think that’s partly because I was afraid to push things too hard after coming off 11 days of not running. I got things back in gear on Tuesday for my tempo run. I’m pleased with my tempo splits (I was aiming for 8:30′s) but not so pleased with the effort it took to achieve them. If I’m going to run a 1:49:49 half marathon in 3 weeks I need to average 8:22 min/mile and right now stringing 13 of those back to back seems impossible! My legs were pretty dead after Thursday’s easy run so by the time I played softball later in the day I was quite sore.
Saturday was the best day weather-wise we’ve had in Seattle all year. It was sunny and 13C while I was out running. I believe we hit a high of 23C later in the day. Both the Olympic and the Cascade mountain ranges were out and Mt Rainier was visible too. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Glorious. Oh and I was pretty happy with my run. My legs held up pretty well and my average HR was good although it was definitely creeping up significantly towards the end.
| 07/04 | - | Rest day |
| 08/04 | 5.0 miles | Easy run: avg 155 bpm, 13:08 min/mile |
| 09/04 | 6.0 miles | Tempo run: 4 miles @ 8:14/8:27/8:24/8:26 |
| 10/04 | 5.0 miles | Easy run: avg 159 bpm, 12:10 min/mile; IM Softball |
| 11/04 | - | Rest day |
| 12/04 | 10.0 miles | Long run: avg 159 bpm, 11:45 min/mile |
| 13/04 | 4.0 miles | Recovery run: avg 151 bpm, 11:34 min/mile |
| Total | 30.0 miles | YTD: 333.4 miles |
The Vancouver Half Marathon is now three weeks away. That means I have two more weeks to get some solid training in and then one week of taper. I’m sticking with the goals I set back in February but I’m reserving the right to add a less ambitious time goal in. If all else fails I definitely want to still beat 2 hours!