This week marked the third week of my Run Less Run Faster (affiliate link) training cycle for my OBX Half Marathon, my focus race out of my seven remaining races for the year.

My training week started on Sunday afternoon with a nice little 30-mile bike ride with my favorite training partner. We headed west on the W&OD Trail since the sun was out and that portion of the trail is more shaded. I’d gotten a sunburn on a small section of my left thigh where I’d missed applying sunscreen during our ride the weekend before so I decided to play it safe and stay in the shade as much as possible. 

 

Tuesday’s morning track intervals called for a 1-mile warm-up and 1-mile cool-down bookending 6 x 800 meters with 90-second recoveries, but I misread my plan and did easy 400’s between each interval. My goal pace for each 800 interval was 7:27, but the mess the geese had left for us slowed us down a bit as we dodged goose poop. I was slow on every repeat (8:07, 8:01, 8:45, 7:48, 7:34, and 7:42), but can hardly blame the messy track. I felt slow and sluggish, and my times reflect exactly how I felt.

 

My tempo run was scheduled for Thursday morning, but since I had clients back to back all morning starting at 6:30 AM, it was impossible for me to meet my running friends on the trail at 5:30 like normal. Since I needed to pick up my SUV from its oil change on Wednesday afternoon, it seemed like a great idea to run and pick it up. It’s exactly 6 miles from my house to the dealership if I stay on the running trails so I decided to follow my training plan and run there, a day early. My plan called for a 6-miles total with a 2 mile easy warm-up, 3 miles at tempo pace (8:13), and a 1 mile easy cool-down. 

I failed to take into consideration that I have been running most of the summer at 5:30 AM when the temperature is in the mid to high 60°’s, not mid-afternoon when it’s 85° and sunny. I struggled through the run, but somehow managed to hit my target paces (8:16, 8:14, and 8:04) but only because I stopped a few times to keep from dying. So in reality, I turned my tempo run into somewhat of an interval run… 

I felt pretty good when I finished, but once home I started getting nauseous and felt miserable until the following morning. Too late, I determined that I was extremely dehydrated and probably had an electrolyte imbalance. The next morning I took a Gatorade to the gym to sip and by the time I finished it, I was starting to feel normal again. 

 

Bill and I celebrated Friday evening’s arrival with one of my favorite drink concoctions – beach peaches, a mixture of peach Pallini, coconut rum, and sparkling peach Izze. They are so refreshing and the perfect beach drink!

 

Saturday’s run called for 10 easy miles, of which I ran 9.75 miles solo. I averaged a 10:35 pace and felt great except for losing about 10 pounds of sweat. The temperature was only 75° when I finished, but the humidity was 97%. To say I was soaked to the bone would be an understatement!

 

While out on my run I first bumped into Vamshi heading back home on the last half of his 15-miler…

 

And then right at my 5-mile turnaround point, I saw Amit and Ramesh and ran a quarter of a mile with them until I stopped to fuel. It’s always great seeing Cruiser friends out on the trail and I need to be better at organizing runs with them like in the past.

 

The best part of my run was seeing my Cruiser friend Joe’s dog Lincoln in their back yard about a mile from my house as I ran home. I stopped long enough for some puppy kisses and then continued on for my final mile.

 

Overall, I’d say it was a pretty good week of training. I feel strong and I’m starting to feel my speed come back a little even though I didn’t hit my track paces. I think it’s just a matter of time…

Looking ahead to this coming week on the blog, I’m hoping for a fun and somewhat silly little post on Thursday, but the topic is a surprise – stay tuned! Also, coming up during the fall racing season, I plan to finish up my throwback race recaps from races of yesteryear. I’ve got nine on tap.

In case you missed it, this past week I posted the following articles:

 

In addition to the runs I mentioned above, here’s a run-down of other workouts I completed this past week. Notice that I changed out the walking section for planking and foam rolling. Walks will be moved over to cross-training, and even though I’m extremely consistent with doing my daily 5-minute planks, I need accountability with my post-run foam rolling. I’m hoping that adding it to my infographic will help. So far, so good…

 

Fitness tools beyond the equipment in my gym that I used during the week included: 

Cameras used for blog photography include:

 

  • Questions:
  • What’s the worse thing you’ve stepped in while running or walking?
  • Do you have a dog? If so, what kind? I think Goldendoodles and Westies are the cutest! 
  • 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.

 

*********************************************************************

 

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

WeeklyWrapButton
 

I’m also linking up with Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC for her Training Recap linkup. Be sure to check out how Courtney the other great bloggers joining the linkup are doing on their fall marathon and half marathon training.