Monday Monday. Another week! I can't believe it, but the Austin Half Marathon is this coming Sunday. I've been training hard for it, and I'm ready. I don't really have any concrete goals, aside from beating my last best time. And I can't wait to make a little vacation out of the race - several of my friends live in Austin, so I'll see them and have some fun.
Here are the last two weeks' workouts.
Week 5 (Jan. 26-Feb.1): 5:26:25 hours
Swam: 1750 yards/39:22 minutes
Biked: 30 minutes (trainer)
Ran: 27.8 miles/4:16:48 hours
Monday: easy run (30 minutes)
Tuesday: walk-easy run-walk did bike instead
Wednesday: speedwork/track
Thursday: day off/swim or bike (I swam)
Friday: easy run
Saturday: swim took a rest day
Sunday: long run (13.5 miles)
Snow snow snow! I woke up on Monday morning and it was snowy. It was light and fluffy and the path at the park wasn't yet paved.
I was happy (despite my expression) to get to bust out the Yak Tracks, which I keep attached to a pair of older sneakers. I only need them a handful of times each year, so I like having a dedicated pair of snowy running shoes.
Tuesday the kids had a delayed opening, so instead of the walk-easy run-walk combo (that I really do not enjoy at all), I rode the bike. I cleared it with the coach first, and he said no problem.
Wednesday was supposed to be a track day for speedwork. But the track was icy. So I moved the workout to the treadmill. 5 1/2 miles of speedwork on that treadmill thank you very much.
Thursday was one of the "my choice" days: rest, swim or bike. I knew that Saturday was crazy, so I opted to swim and would rest on Saturday. Swim was pretty good. It was 5x100 on the 2:30 and then 4x300 on the 7:30 with a 50 yard cool down. These numbers just mean I had about 20-30 seconds between each interval.
Friday was supposed to be an easy 40 minute run. I met my running club super early and ran with a few people. My run ended up being more than 40 minutes (more like 50), but it was great. Of course the weather turned into this.
Saturday - rest!
Sunday was a 13.5 mile long run: 9 miles at endurance pace, 4 miles at 8:10-8:20/mile and .5 mile recovery. Hello I hit those paces. I loooooooooooove long runs.
Week 6 (Feb. 2-Feb.8): 5:16:25 hours
Swam: 1750 yards/38:17 minutes
Biked: 30:02 minutes (on trainer)
Ran: 28.2 miles/4:08:05 hours
Monday: Easy run biked instead
Tuesday: walk-super easy run-walk did an easy run from Monday instead
Wednesday: speedwork/track
Thursday: rest/swim or bike -- I rested
Friday: run with LT
Saturday: swim
Sunday: long run (15 miles)
Monday I got stuck at work and couldn't bear the thought of the treadmill. So I decided to do my easy 30 minute run on Tuesday and, since I hate Tuesday's walk/run/walk thing, I would do a bike on Monday instead. I did not clear this with my coach. But I think an easy bike is about the same as the walk/super slow run/walk thing. At least I think so anyway.
Tuesday's run was cooold. Freezing.
I wore my running neon ninja outfit.
Wednesday I got to the track early (like 5:15 am) and it was again iced over. I was so mad. I went to the gym and hit the treadmill again for speedwork. The guy next to me decided to try to race me, which is a big whatever. Only he would move his treadmill to one tick faster than mine. But he couldn't sustain it and would have to hop off the belt and onto the sides. This happened six times. I was all ...
Thursday I took a rest day. I knew I had a lot of workouts coming up.
Friday was a mix of endurance and very fast miles (3x 7:40 pace for one mile!). It was another brutally cold day and while I would normally not hesitate to run outside in the cold (see neon ninja above), I realized that an endurance run where everything is relaxed and easy is very different from a super hard run like the one scheduled. I had a hunch treadmill was the smarter choice, and sure enough, my coach told me to get on the treadmill. It wasn't that bad, actually.
Saturday was the same swim as the week before. It was a really good swim and I felt fast. Interesting that I was a minute faster this week than the week prior.
Sunday - long run! 15 miles! Kind of warmish outside!
The most notable thing on this run, aside from how pumped I am at the 8:46 overall pace, was that I tried plain flavored Gu!
I've seen the "just plain" flavor and it's simultaneously grossed me out and piqued my curiosity. I decided to give it a try and picked up a pack at a race expo. The guy at the Gu table said it kind of tasted like honey. He was kind of right. I thought it tasted like vanilla - a more subtle version of the Vanilla Gu - with a little honey flavor. Honey-Vanilla I think. I actually liked it much better than Vanilla Gu, which is a bit too strong for me. So thumbs up on the plain Gu!
That's all for now! I'll be sure to recap the Austin Half Marathon next week! Have a good one :)
See you swoon,
Good luck in Austin! Have fun! :)
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