All of my runs and workouts in my training log are personalized for me by my running coach.

Happy Sunday!

We’re on our way back home today after a fun but exhausting weekend. I look forward to getting a little extra rest this week!

Running this week has been good. You will notice a cut back in mileage for the beginning of the week to put me in the best place to race on Saturday (more on that later). Racing can always be a little stressful or me. Between traveling, trying to get enough rest, still battling the end of a sickness, and just the race itself I was really trying to focus on staying calm.

Here is a look at my training leading up to race day:

Monday

Total: 6 miles

The start of the week brought some hills! I started off with a warm up involving some strides and short tempo pace. I then ran down to my hill and ran 3 x 45 second hill sprints fast (jogging back down) and then 3 x 30 second hill sprints faster.

Hills and I will always have a love/hate relationship. I know I am going to need them going into Boston!

Tuesday

Total: 4 miles

My easy days were really cut back in the mileage this week. This was the first day this week it was REALLY cold! I took this slow and just let my legs go whatever pace they needed to.

I finished it up with some general strength work and stretching.

Wednesday

Total: 7 miles

I had one real last workout before my race on Wednesday.

Scheduled workout: warm up, 2 mile temp (7:30 pace), 0.5 mile fast, 5 minutes easy, 4 x 1 minute fast and controlled (with 1:30 recovery), and a cool down.

Actual workout: warm up, 2 mile tempo (7:20, 7:27), 0.5 miles (7:01), 5 minutes easy, 4 x 1 minute, and cool down.

I realized I went too fast on the first mile so I tried to calm it down for the second and got much closer to the goal pace my coach has scheduled for me.

This workout actually felt really good and I was happy to end these 3-4 week so training on a positive note. The only downside to this run is it was 19 degrees. I had to wear more layers than I usually do for faster stuff, but that will help make me feel even lighter on Saturday!

Thursday

Total: 4 miles

My last run before the race was an easy 4 miles. It was a bit warmer than earlier in the week. My first mile was really slow for me (like 10:05 slow) but then I averaged out the last three around 8:30-8:50.

I always take the first mile of any run super slow just to ensure my legs get into the run.

Friday

Off

Friday was travel day so after a short work day we hopped in the car to head to Ocean Isle!

Saturday

Total: 14.5 miles

I am going to be getting a full race recap up later this week (so stay tuned) but I can say it was overall a really well run race. I went through all phases of the race, but it was nice racing the half distance for the first time in quite a while!

I finished in 1:37:33 which is a 2 minute PR!

Sunday

Off

My coach instructed me to take the day after the race off to recover. This is another example where I would definitely probably have run had I not had someone telling me not to!

It was nice to race again before Boston training starts. This next week will be all about recovery and then on Monday, January 18th I officially begin marathon training. It’s scary and exciting all at one time. I am excited though going into this and knowing I have someone working with me to help me succeed!

How did your running go this week?