This past week completed week 15 of my 16-week Run Less Run Faster (affiliate link) training cycle for my OBX Half Marathon which means that the race is one week from today!
I’m certainly inspired as I write today’s post while watching the New York City Marathon. Shalane Flanagan just won the women’s division with a time of 2:26:53 and the men are closing in on their final mile. I am so happy for Shalane to win her first marathon major!
My good friend Kim is also running today and I’m sending good vibes her way! I’m still regretting not running NYC back in the day, so I’m living vicariously through my friends! 😀
Now back to my training… Scheduled for my track workout was 5 x 1000 repeats at a 7:30 goal pace with 400 recoveries, bookended by a 1-mile warm-up and 1-mile cool-down. An early meeting kept my friend Tiffany from meeting me at the track, so I decided to play it safe and run around the circle in my neighborhood on the cool Halloween morning. I loved just stepping out my door to run, but didn’t love that I had a few hills on my “track.” As a result, I hit my repeats at 8:18, 8:22, 9:21, 8:22, and 8:22 – slower than expected.
My training plan for Thursday’s tempo run had me run a 2-mile warm-up, then 3 miles at an 8:13 goal tempo pace, and finish it up with a 1-mile cool-down. I hit my tempo miles at 8:34, 8:13, and 7:57. I definitely perform better the more warmed up I get, which reminds me of how miles 10 to 20 were always my easiest miles in my marathons and how I usually depended on running negative splits for my race strategy.
Friday evening Bill and I met two other Cruiser couples for dinner at Firebirds where my grilled salmon was amazing! Over dinner we discussed the Cruisers participating in a century ride next year or creating our own on the C&O Canal. There seemed to be interest, so stay tuned!
Saturday morning I didn’t have anyone in particular to meet, so I slept in a little and headed out for my run around 7:45. While getting ready, I stepped out onto our deck at 7:30 and 7:40 to take these two pictures of the beautiful sunrise. I was kind of sad that I hadn’t started running earlier so I could enjoy the sunrise while on my run.
Rather than driving to the W&OD Trail, I ran along our community paths until I hit the trail in just over a mile. I saw lots of bikers, but very few runners which is typical the weeks following the Marine Corps Marathon since it is such a big draw for runners in our area.
My long run called for 8 miles at an 11:18 average pace. It was 44° and another perfect morning for a run. I had an enjoyable solo run and finished at an average pace of 10:22. I started second guessing my goal of PR’ing at next Sunday’s half where I’ll need to run sub-8:45’s, but I need to trust my training and head confidently into the race. I’ve never let my head get in the way of a strong run, and now’s not the time to start!
In case you missed it on the blog, this past week I posted:
- Monday – Race Linkup: October 2017 Edition
- Wednesday – The Necessity Of Being Disciplined: Six Tips For Finding Success
- Saturday – What’s That? I Really Did Drink A Cup Of Coffee?
Looking ahead to this coming week, I’ll be squeezing clients into a three-day workweek, packing for my race, etc. so I’m not sure if I’ll have time to write anything. If I have time, I will, though!
In addition to the runs I mentioned above, here’s a run-down of the other workouts I completed this past week…
Fitness tools beyond the equipment in my gym that I used during the week included:
- Rodney Yee’s Complete Yoga For Beginners (affiliate link)
- Rodney Yee’s Intermediate Yoga (affiliate link)
- Rodney Yee’s Yoga Conditioning For Athletes (affiliate link)
- Tony Horton’s Ten Minute Trainer (affiliate link)
- Teeter Hang Ups Inversion (affiliate link)
Cameras used for blog photography include:
- GoPro Hero 4 (affiliate link)
- Canon Power Shot Elph (affiliate link)
- iPhone 6S (affiliate link)
- And the occasional picture taken by Bill
- Questions:
- How confidently do you go into your races? ~ I’m usually quite confident and trust my training; however, longer distances are becoming increasingly harder for me so I’m nervous about holding that pace for that long.
- How was your Halloween? ~ We loved having more trick-or-treaters than past years with the new, younger families moving into our neighborhood.
- 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 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!
I was working on Halloween.
I also have a Half next weekend. It’s not s gail race. Just for fun.
I am always nervous before a half. I never know what will happen. Sometimes my fastest times are when when I fudntbtrsin well. Go figure.
Have fun at your half next weekend! Running just for fun takes all the pressure off.
It sure does. But once the race starts I often get competitive.
Confidence going into races varies depending on my training. Your training has gone great! Looking forward to your recap. Good luck!
Thanks, Wendy!
I love salmon and it is always so much better when I order it out then when I try to make it myself at home. I never wake up early enough to catch the sunrise. The other day I actually did and wasn’t expecting to so I never even had my phone to take a pic.
I buy salmon Milano at Costco and bake or grill it according to the directions (without using the balls of butter that comes on it). It has fantastic seasoning and is delicious!
Catching sunrises is one of my favorite things about running so early. In my case, I’m often already home from my run by the time the sun comes up. Now that the time has changed, I should be able to catch them again for a while. 🙂
No matter how much confidence I have going into a race, I am always mindful that I never know what the race day will bring. I seem to always have some odd “out of nowhere” stuff smack me when I’m not expecting it. For me, I have learned to trust my training, but just go with whatever the days gives me at the start line. Our Halloween night was busier than expected because the weather was so cold! We were busy almost non-stop the entire two hours.
Your first sentence says it all! For me, it’s usually how my stomach/GI tract is feeling…
I am most often not too confident going into bigger races. That is really something I’d like to work on
Isn’t it interesting which types of races make us nervous?
Congrats on a great week of training! Our Halloween was pretty low key, although we didn’t get as many trick-or-treaters as we had last year.
Good luck next weekend!
Thanks, Kimberly!
We like Firebirds! We decided to not hand out candy this year. Our dogs usually go nuts so it ended up being a nice, calm evening. You’ve had a great training cycle and you’ll have a great race. It will all “kick in” once you get started. Good Luck! Thanks for linking.
Thanks, Holly!
I hope you have a great race!! I am not usually confident until I actually get going on the run…based on how I am feeling the first few miles can make or break me.
Thanks, Karen! I haven’t put this kind of pressure for meeting a goal on myself for several years so that’s what’s making me nervous.
I trust my training, but I’m not sure I’m always confident going into a race — but I think that actually works in my favor. I just trust the training but don’t get over confident.
I negative split a LOT of runs — without trying to — but for longer races (which to me means a half), I do get tired around mile 9 or so. But you’re supposed to be tired, right? Good luck! You’ve got this!
Thanks, Judy! And yes, if you don’t get tired, you’re not pushing yourself as much as you could be. 😉
Great job with your training! How exciting that you are finally coming up to race day. I am almost never confident going in to race day and I’m usually really nervous at the start line. I’m getting better and better with this though.
Hope you have a great week! Trust in your training and soak up the final rest days. Your legs will feel ready! Best of luck to you!
Thanks so much, Sara!
Usually I trust the training in my races, but this weekend in the marathon, I was a bit nervous but it was my first one so that was to be expected. Once I get more comfortable with a distance though I’m usually pretty confident if I did the training well!
Congrats on running your first marathon! That’s so awesome!