It’s official! I signed up for the Grand Teton Half Marathon which means that on June 2nd I will be toeing the starting line at 6,169 feet gasping for air before I even start running… My plan is to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and research recipes for adding extra electrolytes into my drinks.

Prior to the Grand Tetons Half, on April 7th I’m running the Hungry Mother 25K, a trail race where I’ll climb 1,000 feet in just under two miles to an altitude of 3,250 feet. Both races will push me out of my current running comfort zone, but since I’m running both for fun, I’m not freaking out.

With the half being my spring focus race, that gives me a twelve-week training cycle. Since I’m not running either race for time, I’m not going to add track workouts into my training plan, but I do plan to add in hill repeats, starting this Tuesday. It would be good idea for me to add in some trail runs, though…

 

Switching gears to my recap, last Sunday, Bill and I went to visit our son Daniel, his girlfriend Jess, and of course this guy, Pablo. We also got to see Mel and had a quick little reunion of sorts of our 2016 Ragnar DC with four of our six teammates (and our driver) from Van 2.

 

Tuesday morning I was able to sleep in until 5 AM (LOL) and head out for my run a half hour later than usual. I’ve really been enjoying the sun rising slightly by the end of my runs (rising fully on this later run), but realize that in just one short week we will go back onto Daylight Saving Time and I won’t be seeing the sun on my early morning runs for many more weeks.

 

Wednesday’s run was solo and in the dark so I didn’t bother to try to take any pictures. It was a good conversation paced run, and no, I didn’t talk to myself.

Saturday morning was still very windy from our four-day windstorm so I opted to go out a little later and closer to 11 AM when the high wind warning was lifted.  It really wasn’t too bad until around mile seven when I turned westward and felt the full brunt of the wind in my face. Shortly after that, I came upon this downed tree. I had purposely chosen to run on the paths along the parkways rather than on the wooded trails through our neighborhood to avoid having a tree come crashing on my head.

 

My runner’s math was actually working and I calculated that I needed to tack on about a half mile to my route in order to finish at twelve miles by the time I got home. I decided to run along the path behind a restaurant which leads to their pretty red barn and herb gardens, but didn’t get very far before finding the path flooded… I backtracked, added a loop down and back on a side street, and finished my run at home at 12.02 miles!

 

Once home, I had just enough time to catch my breath before a client stopped by to start some early planning for this fall’s Marine Corps Marathon. He’s 33 weeks out so he has plenty of time to build a strong base before starting a 20-week training cycle. I love clients who plan ahead! And, I can’t tell you how fun it was to help him set goals and plan out his training cycle. If I’m not able to run marathons without risking more back problems, at least I can live vicariously through my clients and friends!

 

In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…

Looking ahead to this coming week, on Wednesday please be sure to join me for my monthly Wednesday Word linkup where this month’s word is brash. Hopefully later this week, I’ll wrap up my next post for Spotlight On Local Athletes, this time featuring Ray Pugsley, local runner and co-owner of Potomac River Running Store.

 

In addition to what I mentioned above, here’s a complete run-down of my workouts in my home gym from this past week…

 

  • Questions:
  • What’s your preferred length of time for a training cycle?
  • Do you have any racecations planned this year? 
  • Did you race this weekend? 

 

Have a great week!

 

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.

 

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I’m linking up with Holly at HoHo Runs and Wendy from Taking The Long Way Home for their Weekly Wrap. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!