Even on vacation, I managed to successfully completed the 5th week of my 16-week Run Less Run Faster (affiliate link) training cycle for my OBX Half Marathon. Managed… who am I kidding? When Bill and I go to the beach we put a capital C on the word chill so I have plenty of time to run, bike, lift, do yoga, read, nap, and basically do whatever I want.
As I mentioned last week, I mixed things up a bit so I could hopefully go on my long run on Sunday with a friend who was also vacationing on the Outer Banks. As a result, I ended up with two long runs and no track repeats this past week. I got all of my workouts in, just in a slightly different order than my training schedule called for.
Sunday’s long run ended up being solo, but was still a solid run. My plan called for me to run my 9 miles at an 11:01 average pace and I came in at 10:42, not bad considering I ran on the sand at low tide, and low tide wasn’t until just after noon when it was pretty hot and extremely humid.
Pelicans were relaxing on the fence posts separating the 4 x 4 section from the road access beaches and I chuckled when it looked like they were roosting on my leg. After turning to run home, I spotted dolphins swimming not too far out in the water, a regular sighting here on the Outer Banks.
Monday afternoon I headed out for a 3-mile easy run to celebrate the solar eclipse and timed it so I finished up just prior to the 90% maximum coverage we got here on the Outer Banks. This run wasn’t on my training schedule, but I wanted to remember this historic day with a run. I’ll never forget that eerie glow as I ran under the the moon passing in front of the sun…
On Wednesday, my training plan called for an 8-mile run with 6 miles at tempo pace which I tied to the Lighthouse 5K as best I could. Prior to the race, I headed out for a 2-mile easy warm-up, ran the 5K, and shortly after the race headed back out for another 3 tempo-paced miles. My 1-mile warm-up and 1-mile cool-down were to be at an easy pace (no problem there even with combining them) and my tempo miles were to be at an 8:48 pace. My splits during the race were 8:29, 9:01, and 9:08 (8:51 average).
I stuck around after the race for a few minutes to take some pictures before heading back out for my final 3 miles. I had planned to rerun the course, but Bill suggested I run along one of the back streets near the sound where it’s shaded. It was an excellent idea and just happened to be a 1-mile loop from our parked car to where the street dead-ended, so I ran that 3 times. My splits for my final 3 miles were 9:32, 9:20, and 8:12 (obviously at this point I just wanted to be done) (9:01 average).
We got home from the race, had lunch, and just as we decided to stay in and read for the afternoon, storms hit for most of the rest of the day. I made brownies to eat while watching the storm. It was the perfect way to relax after a busy morning!
Late Friday afternoon, Bill and I headed out for a 22-mile bike ride. Remember, our house is on the 4 x 4 section of the Outer Banks, so unless we drive 3.5 miles to the road, everything we do is on the sand and low tide dictates our schedule. We rented bikes for the two weeks we’re here and this was the first time I rode mine. It really wasn’t as hard as I expected as long as I stayed on the packed sand. It did take a little getting use to the brakes being on the pedals and there were many times I would have loved to shift into an easier gear, but alas I was riding a single-speed.
While riding north we rode past a group of people staring out into the ocean. One lady turned to tell us that they had spotted a whale. We kept our eyes on the water, but without any luck of seeing a breaching whale. I did see something dark at a distance, but it could just as easily have been the backs of pelicans as they dove for fish rather than an actual whale sighting.
A little farther along we saw three horses standing on a dune perfectly silhouetted against the sun. We didn’t stop for pictures and by the time we rode past there on our way home, they had moved on.
The ride up into Virginia was easy and we stopped to relax for a few minutes while in False Cape State Park. As we headed back to our house, the tide was starting to come back in and the quasi-headwind had picked up – riding got harder and harder. By the time we got home, my quads were screaming and I was whining.
Less than 12 hours after getting home from our bike ride, I headed out on Saturday morning at 6:15 AM for my 11-mile run (remember, low tide dictates my schedule). On the short walk to the beach, I saw a horse enjoying breakfast on my neighbor’s dune.
My legs were lead early in my run, but as I warmed up, they started moving more easily. About half way into my run, I saw Bill heading toward me on his fat tire bike, and we paused for a picture.
My goal average pace for my run was 11:32, but I ended up averaging 10:46, with the last half being significantly faster than the first half. I finished just as the tide was started to come back in and if I’d run much later, I would have had a very challenging run.
Even though I mixed things up throughout the week, I’d say it was a pretty good week of training. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and adjust accordingly. Once home, I’ll have a few races and football games to schedule my long runs around so some weeks might be just as mixed up as these last two have been.
Looking ahead to this coming week, tomorrow I’ll post my August Race Linkup. Please feel free to join me and let your friends know which races they can find you running this fall. Mid-week I’ll have a guest post from Bill where he’ll talk about volunteering while here at the beach, and I’m hoping to do a final vacation post later in the week in the way of a simple camera dump.
In case you missed it, this past week I posted the following articles:
- Tuesday – Running During A Solar Eclipse
- Thursday – Runfessions Of A Technologically Challenged Sand Hater
- Friday – 2017 Outer Banks Lighthouse 5K Race Recap
In addition to the runs and rides 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:
- 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:
- What interesting things have you seen recently while on a run?
- What’s the worst surface you’ve run on?
- 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’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.
Seems like you were greeted by many “friends” during your run! Years ago I saw a few deer on my run but that’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen so far.
Kimberly G recently posted…Chicago Marathon Training Recap – Week 14
Seeing deer and squirrels have become as routine as other runners on my runs at home. There are so many of them!
How nice to have all that time to just chill at the beach! That’s the one thing this summer hasn’t had much of for me–downtime! Still, it’s all good.
Wendy@Taking the Long Way Home recently posted…Juggling the Weekly Workout Routine
This is the longest we’ve ever stayed at the beach. This morning we almost let Tropical Storm Irma send us packing, but decided to weather the storm and stay a few more days as planned. 😀
A few years ago, while near the 6-mile mark of a 20-miler (in prep for the 2014 IMT DSM Marathon), we were out in the middle of no where (with a friend, who was taking us on a route in a nearby town). We went over a hill, and all of a sudden 4 or 5 deer came running across the road, right in front of us. Not only did it totally scare us, but we had to stop in our tracks (literally) to let them through.
Kimberly Hatting recently posted…The Recovery RoLlEr CoAsTeR
I remember reading about that story in one of your blog posts or previous comments (probably when I asked the same question LOL). How scary!
I’m more of a mountain person than a beach person, but this year we’re going to the beach in the off-season. Your pics are making me excited for running on the beach!
Jennifer @ Dashing in Style recently posted…Marathon Training Week 5: Adding 80/20
I would love to vacation at a lake house. I’m sure I would buy a SUP and spend a lot of time out on the water.
I can’t wait to see what you think of running on the beach!
Loving all of your beach photos! I am impressed that you can do your long runs in sand. I tried this summer to run on the beach and I did not last long at all
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner recently posted…Weekly Wrap Nantucket Style
Thanks! Running at low tide on the packed sand isn’t really much different than running on dirt trails. The key is to run at low tide, no matter what time of day it happens to be.
Wow, I’m in love with these pictures …especially the one of you and Bill on your single speeds cruising the white sand beaches! I’ve always wanted to visit the Outer Banks and now even more than ever. It just may have moved up several notches on our “wanderlust bucketlist’!
Great week Deb! Enjoy the rest of your vacation!
Teresa recently posted…Weekly Wrap: Aloha Style!
Let me know when you’re headed to the OBX and I’ll make sure we’re down here then, too! 😀
Sounds like a great week! I would be uneasy riding on sand too – glad you figured it out. Those are wild horses? We used to go to Nag’s Head a lot and never saw horses there.
Coco recently posted…Wrapping Up After The Solar Eclipse
Yes, those are wild horses (quite likely descendants from the Spanish ship wrecks off the coast of NC back in the early 1500’s). The horses are kept within the boundaries of the 4 x 4 portion of the beach where our house is located, at least 45 minutes north of Nags Head.
Love your pics!! Looks like an amazing week was had!!
Thanks, Michelle; and we’re still enjoying it, well except for Tropical Storm Irma… 😀
Beautiful pictures! I’m impressed with how much running you did on your vacation. I’m not sure if I could have that same dedication.
I did a great local 5k yesterday. It had amazing crowd support and so much food at the finish line! One of the best 5k’s I’ve been to even though it was a little bit of a challenging course.
Sara recently posted…Great Race 5k & UBHM Training Week 4
Thanks, Sara! Congrats on your great 5K!
Ditto what everyone has said about your amazing pictures! My friend was married in Corolla many years ago and seeing it makes me want to go back! I can’t think of anything interesting I’ve seen on a run lately, ha. My last couple have been night runs with a group. The skyline looks pretty amazing I guess 😉
AmyC recently posted…Summer in Hong Kong: heat, humidity, typhoon, repeat.
There’s nothing wrong with a beautiful skyline to admire while running. It’s one of my favorite things about running along the lakefront in Chicago!
You had a great week! I always love all your pictures. You were smart to plan your runs around the tide. Have a great week!
Thanks, Courtney! When on the OBX 4 x 4 section, the only way to have a successful run is to plan it around low tide. 😀
Looks like a great week! And I love seeing all of your amazing pictures!
Zenaida recently posted…Under Armour Horizon RTT shoes, back to work, and a giveaway!
Thanks so much, Zenaida!
What a great week and some fantastic photos too.
I love seeing wildlife on my runs. Mainly I see red kites, rabbits and deer plus sheep, cows and horses. This week I saw my first little egret which is a small white heron, which I thought was pretty cool.
Nicola @ Running Happy recently posted…Bournemouth Training: Weeks 11 to 13
We have egrets here on the Outer Banks. They love to sit on the backs of the wild horses! In fact, you can see several pictures my husband took of them happily riding on the backs of horses in this post. 😀
I had to look up red kites because that’s something new to me. They look a lot like the hawks we have in our back yard at home.
How amazing would that have been to actually have seen a whale? I’ve only seen a whale once and that was when we were in Alaska. We were on a tour so it was pretty close up too! It’s cool that you saw some horses.
Yes, I would have loved to have seen the whale and known that was what I was seeing. I don’t think it’s that common to see them down here. How cool that you saw one in Alaska!
Awesome week of training! I’ve never been to the Outer Banks but they look amazing! And I’m definitely envious of your view of the eclipse – we hardly got a peek through the clouds in Philadelphia!
Janelle @ Run With No Regrets recently posted…Rock ‘N Roll Brooklyn Half Marathon Training Week 5
Awww, bummer about the clouds during the eclipse… 🙁
Wow talk about variety in wildlife! You sure had it this week. It does make it interesting that is for sure! I’ll go several weeks and not see much then bam, I’ll run across animals on mine. I have about 6 more weeks til I’ll officially be racing but I bet I end up finding a 5k somewhere along the way.
[email protected] recently posted…Weekly Wrap 108 2nd Giveaway
Yes, and quite a different variety of wildlife than what I usually see along my trails back home. 😉
I love that you still got your training done, even if you mixed it up a bit! And what amazing sights you saw, all beautifully captured in pictures! I’m on holiday at the moment, but got my long run done yesterday and we passed lots of monkeys on the way! So that made a nice difference from the usual runs!
Shathiso recently posted…Time Adventure Team Challenge, Race Recap (#9/17)
Okay, seeing monkeys tops everything I saw along the trail last week. Lucky you! 😀
When I was in Mexico I saw a monkey in a tree. That was a first for me and I was amazed that I actually saw one. They always advertise monkeys on “jungle tours” in Mexico, and I guess they really do have some hanging around (haha). They also have a few other animals that are not in our area. Always fun to explore on vacation!
Lisa @ TechChick Adventures recently posted…Training Tues – 8/29 Columbus half edition
Oh wow! Seeing a monkey while on a run would really be cool!
You live in a beautiful area! I’m jealous of your beach runs! I like your flow chart of your weekly run down too! How’d you make that?
Sharon recently posted…CIM Marathon Training Week 5 & Weekly Wrap: 8/21-8/27
We don’t live here on the Outer Banks year-round; and are wrapping up a two-week vacation. I’m glad you enjoyed my photos!
I used this free infographic template for my Weekly Run-Down chart. It was easy to download and use, and believe me, if I can do it, anyone can! The video tutorials referenced were very helpful. Glad you liked it!