Week 5 of Half Marathon Training (1.7-1.13)

Previous Summaries

Planned Mileage: 2, 5, 2, 10 (for a total of 19 miles)

Monday: I did a tempo run. I almost didn't do it but went at the last minute before daylight and before I had to get to dinner. I have been a real slacker lately and haven't done a long run in probably a month. The tempo run said to do 5 miles so I set out to do it. I wasn't sure if I'd make it. I wanted my warmup and cooldown miles to be roughly 10 minutes. Then the middle 3 miles should have been at 9:04 pace. I thought there was no way that I would meet that. Well because my third mile was a lot quicker, I was able to do it in 9:06. That's pretty close. I can't believe how sore my legs were all evening after. I started out trying to get 9:04 or slower instead of making my normal mistake of doing the first mile in a tempo run insanely fast then being insanely slow on the third mile. 

After dinner Dave and I went for a short walk. A few hours later I did an ab workout.

Tuesday: I woke up bright and early to run with Brian. We met at 8:30 and ran at Bay Trail.  It was so foggy that he never got to see any of the nice views. I guess we have to go back next time. Brian is in town from Texas to give training so we felt like we had to run together.  Normally Brian runs with a running group at an 11:30 pace. 

We walked at 2 miles so Brian could take off his jacket and we walked a few extra steps.  We ended up walking .09 because of that. But not bad for the 6 mile run. The app Brian used on his phone said we ran 6.11 miles.  

My legs were feeling it from my tempo run the day before. I'm not used to speed. I'm not used to running two days in a row. And I'm not used to running 5 miles or more so it was all a bit of a challenge. 

Wednesday, 1/9: Since I did Body Pump Tuesday, lifting was out. Dave and I went to the gym and I did 30 minutes on the elliptical. Running was also out because I ran 3 days in a row and needed a break. I didn't go all out on the elliptical because I didn't want to fatigue my legs too much. I'm shocked at how little I was sore throughout the day; I thought Body Pump would have made me super sore. 

Thursday: I took a rest day. I mainly did that because my BodyMedia Fit armband wasn't working and I couldn't handle not having data. But I also did need a rest day. (I ordered a new armband. I have had this one for over 3 years.)

Friday:  I ran to Hilary's, then ran 3 miles with her, then ran home.  Our pace wasn't even that fast but it was a struggle for me. I had trouble keeping up.   A few hours later we biked to google and walked around and had smoothies then biked home for a little over 14 miles.

Saturday: Dave and I went to Bay Trail to bike the loop and take some running pictures.  We only stopped once for pictures and didn't do the entire loop. It was too rocky so we decided to go elsewhere.  Then we went to Guadalupe River Trail and biked 8.8 miles there. 

Sunday:  Dave and I biked to and from the trail opening for a little over 4 miles.  Since this was a different spot to get on the trail Dave wanted to bike it before he had to do it for work.  Then a few hours later I went for a run. I wanted to run 8 but all week figured I'd just do 7. Then as the day went on and I didn't run, I thought I'd just do 4.  Then I curled up in bed when I was about to go so I figured maybe I'd just do 2 before it got dark.  I ended up squeezing 3 miles in. 

Total Running Mileage: 18.66 mi (I actually had to limit running because I would have gotten way too many miles.)
Total Biking Mileage: 30.56 mi
Total other things: a few walks, biking 3 times,  2 core workouts, Body Pump once.

Summary: The weekend was a lot for me. My legs were constantly tired. Biking feels easy while doing it but since I'm not used to it, it's tiring out my legs more than I ever imagined. After Tuesday, I was limiting my running knowing I'd run Friday with Hilary and run on Sunday. I was afraid I'd get too many miles and also get injured for increasing too much. I still may. But this mileage should be closer to what I'm doing. Also 3 miles was the shortest which is pretty good for me. I really slacked off with the weight lifting this week. I should have done arms and back. I'm glad I didn't really do legs besides Body Pump. Now that I have a bike, it's so much easier to get multiple workouts in one day. Also now that I have a bike we leave the house to go biking instead of leaving the house to go to a restaurant so it's better for our health.