Half-Marathon Training Week 5

I legitimately cannot believe that my half-marathon is less than a week away! I remember signing up for it back in May, thinking it was sooo far down the road. Does anyone else feel like this year has absolutely flown?

I am currently in my final week of training and feel great. I ran my last long distance run (11 miles) over the weekend, which is the longest I have ever run solo. It really wasn’t all that bad!

I’m actually getting the itch to sign up for another half. I mean, I’m already trained… so why not? We shall see.

Week 5 was the first time I completely skipped a training day. Instead, I pushed my run to the next day and combined it with my strength training. It all worked out just fine. Here’s how the rest of the week went!

Need to catch up?

• Half-Marathon Training Recap: Week 1

• Half-Marathon Training Recap: Week 2

• Half-Marathon Training Recap: Week 3

• Half-Marathon Training Recap: Week 4

Half-Marathon Training: Week 5 Recap

Please keep in mind that this is a six week half-marathon training plan I came up with on my own, specifically catered to what works best for me. Feel free to take a look in the archives for my first half-marathon training plan (you will find the section under the Fitness Page) that lasted a duration of ten weeks if you are looking for something closer to a beginner level.

The plan…

What I did (Week 5: October 6 – 12, 2014)

• Monday – REST

I wanted to get out there, but decided to stay productive indoors and push my run to the next day instead.

• Tuesday –  3 miles + at-home circuit workout

I wasn’t in too much of a hurry on this one. I took Roadie with me and made our standard loop in and out of the trails. The weather was gorgeous!

Can you please just do me a solid and stay like this forever, Michigan?

Distance: 3 miles

Time: 30:19 mins.

Pace: 10:06 min./mile

When we got in from the run, I took a fifteen minute break to stretch and roll around on the floor with Roadie (he always pummels into me and goes crazy when I am on the floor) before starting this dumbbell circuit workout in the basement.

(If you read last week’s WIAW post, you’ve already seen it!)

I purposely chose one that included cardio at the beginning and only required an additional 20 minutes of work.

I had been at least a week since I had done any kind of squats or lunges, much less with the added weight of dumbbells. Whoops.

Recovery:

I quickly dove into a Subway 6-inch I picked up earlier in record time.

Turkey, American cheese, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, banana peppers, jalapeños, black olives, and pickles sprinkled in pepper and drizzled with oil + vinegar on wheat bread.

I also ate my fair share of these Popped Wheat Thins Scott brought home.

(You must try them!)

• Wednesday –  4 mile tempo run

I was excited to see my tempo run miles went down to 4! This gave me a pep in my step to knock ’em out and I had an enjoyable trail run.

I thought I did a good job at the tempo, however, my intensity records hinted towards me getting a little too pace happy. Now that I think about it, I don’t ever remember slowing down my pace once I sped up after the 12 minute mark. Oh well!

Distance: 4 miles

Time: 36:12 mins.

Pace: 9:03 min./mile

Quick and easy.

Recovery:

I had just about two seconds to grab something after my shower before Scott and I needed to get out the door to attend a mid-week service.

I brought a Lemon Larabar with me and ate it on the way. (By the way, that flavor is amazing! If you like lemon meringue pie, you’ll be a fan too.)

After church, my tummy was rumbling and I was happy Scott suggested getting dinner at Noodles & Company. I craved pasta and ordered the Penne Rosa with shrimp.

I was surprised (but not really) when I ate everything on my plate!

• Thursday –  3 miles easy pace

To be brutally honest, the last thing I wanted to do Thursday was run.

My legs were extremely sore from my circuit workout earlier in the week and I could barely power walk without looking ridiculous.

(Note to self, lay off the squats until after race day.)

It was probably a good thing I had Roadie as an excuse to stop every now and then…

Distance: 3 miles

Time: 29:19 mins.

Pace: 9:46 min./mile

I somehow made it through three miles, but I felt like a turtle crawling through peanut butter. Seriously. It was so hard!

Recovery:

Another day, another stop at Subway in the afternoon to save for dinner later. Shocking, I know.

This time I mixed it up (kind of) by asking them to put onions on it before they toasted the turkey and cheese. It warmed them up and brought out the flavor. You should try it!

Turkey, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, banana peppers, onions (toasted), black olives, and pickles sprinkled in pepper and drizzled with oil + vinegar on wheat bread.

• Friday – REST

I spent my entire day cleaning and studying, then joined some friends for a girls’ night in with pizza and wine. It was a perfect Friday night for this grandma.

• Saturday –  11 miles

I strategically planned to run in the late-afternoon Saturday.

The weather predicted to be the highest and sunniest around 3 p.m.

It’s crazy how my planning has done a complete 180 since moving out of Florida! (I always used to plan to run during the coldest hours without the sun there.) (Obviously.)

Saturday’s weather and views were beautiful.

It was the first time I set out to run 11 miles on my own, and since I didn’t want to carry anything with me I planned two 5.5 mile loops with a stop back home for water and a Gu chomp.

(I also ate one and chugged water before I left.)

Distance: 11 miles

Time: 1:37:39 mins.

Pace: 8:52 min./mile

I paused my fitness watch every time I got stuck at a light to cross the street and also when I briefly went into the house. I know I won’t be stopping on race day, but I was really happy to see my time when I finished!

I have been loving my new Mizuno Wave Rider 18 shoes I am currently reviewing (more on that later!) and felt great. I spent a good ten minutes stretching and then went straight for this pumpkin donut staring at me before a shower.

The last thing I wanted to do was cook when I got out, so I turned to another Pacific soup ready and waiting in my pantry for me. While it was heating up, I threw a couple of corn tortillas with cheese on the stovetop and made mini cheese fajitas.

I ate two servings of soup and also dipped a couple generous handfuls of blue corn tortilla chips into it once my fajitas were gone. I will definitely be repeating this combo!

• Sunday –  REST

More stretching, foam rolling, and short walks with Roadie, naturally.

Week 5 Thoughts

I missed a training day this week. Well – technically – I didn’t miss it, I just moved it to another day. To be honest, I am doing the same thing this week. Sometimes you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do, and aren’t always going to be able to stick to a plan one hundred percent of the time.

The point of me sharing my training weeks with you is to show you exactly that! I put the plan together, so you’d think I could follow it to the tee. I could, but I didn’t. I came close, but as always, life happens. You learn to roll with it and can’t beat yourself up for not being perfectly trained.

I have a lot of confidence going into the race this weekend. I know I will be fine and think (er… hope) it will be an enjoyable run alongside a lot of inspiring people!

***

Question of the Day

• Do you have any specific goals that pertain to racing?

I do! I have shared them before on my Fitness Bucket List and fully plan on crossing as many things off the best I can. I don’t necessarily have PR goals, but I do have a dream of running at least five half distances before we start a family. I’m hoping to sign up for a third sooner than later, just in case you are wondering when that will be. We’ll have to see how the year (and freezing weather) goes, but I have an itch to sign up and run a couple more before the summer!