This week marked the second week of my Run Less Run Faster (affiliate link) training cycle for my OBX Half Marathon where I’m chasing a big goal of a half PR just in time for my 60th birthday. Unfortunately, I won’t move into the next age group until two days after my race, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

I started my training week off in a big way on Sunday when I cross-trained on my bike with my husband Bill for 50 miles. I once ran a 50-mile ultramarathon, but that was my longest bike ride to date. The craziest thing is that I don’t wear padded shorts, I have a skinny bike saddle, and yet my behind doesn’t get sore – not even after 50 miles. Could it be all those lunges I do, or am I just some sort of freak?

I love that I can ride with Bill even if I do slow him down… a lot. We both now have the itch for a biking event finishers’ medal, so I’m sure there’s some sort of bike race or fondo in our future. Perhaps even a century ride; because, why not?

Anyway, my training plan called for two optional bike rides, both more of the interval type and lasting for around a half hour. Needless to say, my ride didn’t quite fit into the plan, but I’m here to enjoy life so I’m willing to go outside the training plan as long as my rides don’t exhaust me too much for my running.

 

I loved Tuesday’s track repeats because I was joining 5 of my running friends and my schedule called for a pyramid of 400, 600, 800, 1200, 800, 600, 400 with 400-meter easy run recoveries and a 1-mile warm-up and 1-mile cool-down. My goal paces were between 7:19 and 7:35 (faster for the shorter repeats, slower for the longer repeats) and I was pretty much on target with the exception of the 600’s which I ran both a bit slower than my targeted pace – not intentionally, it just happened that way.   

 

Tuesday afternoon my new Garmin Forerunner 230, pepper spray, Brooks Glycerine 15, and Honey Stinger chews (all affiliate links) arrived! I was so excited, but couldn’t play with any of them because I had to rush off to teach boot camp. Once home, I started charging my Garmin so could set it up before my next run. 

 

On Thursday morning I had to leave my house for my tempo run at 5 AM so I could get back home in time to get ready for a 7:30 client. Since I was doing my warm-up on my run from my house to the trail and wouldn’t really be running with my friends (we were all running at our own tempo paces), Bill escorted me on his bike. Once on the trail, I told Bill that I was fine since my friends were at various points on the trail in front and behind me, but he stayed with me until it was completely light out and I was on my way home at a cool-down pace. It wasn’t until then that Bill took off at his usual riding pace to get his workout in – he’s a keeper. 

 

Because I was wearing my brand new Garmin, I wore my old one just in case I screwed up with the new one. I quickly realized how much I love the Forerunner 230 and wondered why it took me so long to update. Aside from the 1-mile warm-up and 1-mile cool-down, I was supposed to hit my 5 tempo miles at an 8:28 pace. I struggled a little and ran them at 8:47, 8:59, 8:43, 8:55, and 8:30. As I mentioned last week, I’ve struggled with getting my speed back to where it was ever since my February and April injuries, but I’m feeling stronger and know that as long as I stay healthy, it’s just a matter of time.

 

Saturday morning’s long run called for 9 miles at an 11:01 pace. Friday evening while in a text conversation with some of my MRTT friends, I asked if anyone could join me for my Saturday morning run and was thrilled that Lupe and Tracy were available. I ran 6 miles with them and we saw Bill heading out for his 52-mile ride on the trail on our way back toward the parking lot.

 

After dropping my girlfriends off, I headed back out for my final 3 miles. I saw my Cruiser friend Vamshi soon thereafter and turned to keep him company as he finished up his 15-miler.

 

After dropping Vamshi off, I ran solo for my final mile. During my run, Mother Nature ushered in a cool crisp breeze and puffy white clouds. The air turned from slightly humid to crisp as it teased of September-like weather. I completed my run at a 10:26 pace, about a half minute faster than I was supposed to run. I’m very comfortable at that pace and will probably stick to it for my long runs throughout this training cycle.   

 

Looking ahead to this coming week on the blog, on Tuesday I plan to enjoy a little walk down memory lane as I talk about last week’s 50-mile bike ride past many spots on the W&OD Trail that the Cruisers and I ran many times during our marathon training runs. On Thursday I hope to follow up on my article, Six Camera Angles For Taking Interesting Running Photos, with a post about using interesting backdrops when taking pictures.

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…

 

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

Cameras used for blog photography include:

 

  • Questions:
  • Are you training for a race or big event? If so, what?  
  • Garmin users: Do you know how to turn off some of the smart notifications without turning them all off? ~ I want to see texts and weather alerts, but I don’t need to see every IG or FB notification while I’m out running.
  • 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!

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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.