Week 11 of Half Marathon Training (2.25-3.3)

Previous Summaries

Planned Mileage: 3, 6, 3, 12 (for a total of 24 miles)

Monday: I felt like reading so I decided to use the exercise bike. Plus I did my long run Sunday so I shouldn't run again. I used the exercise bike at our apartment complex gym. I did a fat burn setting for 30 minutes. I went 8.25 miles in this time. I was reading the entire time.  Then I ran .5 miles on the treadmill in 4:14. It took extra long for me to change the speed from .5 at the beginning. I kept screwing up. I think I ran the entire thing at 7.2 mph besides the first little bit when I had issues.

Later in the day I ran to sprouts. It was .33 mi and I did that in 2:55. It was a little challenging running with my wallet, keys, phone, and canvas bag. 

After Dave got home from work, we went to the gym to lift weights. We did upper body. Counting the walk there and walk home, we spent 40 minutes working out. 

Tuesday: I went for a run. It was hot mid day so I waited until almost dark to go. I was going to do a slow run because I thought I might run with Hilary on Wednesday. I started off thinking my overall goal would be 9:30. While playing bonus seconds, I realized my first mile was 9:00 so I thought maybe that should be my new goal. Then after mile 2, I thought mile 3 should be 8:45. then the last partial mile I just wanted at a faster pace than 8:45 but my goal was 8:45 pace. (I beat the 8:45 pace because for 1/3 of a mile it would have been 2:53.  It was a bit challenging. I was dripping sweat. My worst split was my first one. My 2nd worst was my 2nd split. My 6th and 13th split were tied for my best. My second best was my 12th split. (So my last 2 splits were in the top 3 of my overall run.) 

At one point during the run, I accidentally hit the button to display my pacer and he said I was ahead by just as many seconds as my bonus seconds in my head showed. It just makes me feel good to know that my head does just as well as the watch. 

As soon as I got back, I was about to shower but wanted to go to the gym with Dave. He didn't want to lift so I decided to do abs and stretch then get a shower.

Wednesday: I drove to Google and left the car with Dave. I biked home. It was 7.1 miles. I was in normal clothes so that sucked. It got so hot in the sun. I took off my cardigan.  My average pace was 5:25. It took me 38:29 to bike it. It's mostly uphill. Dave said it takes him 45-50 min to bike home. 

Thursday: I meant to run but didn't get to it. I did walk a lot. I probably walked about 2 miles. It was hot. I walked enough that I got sweaty. The last 1/3 of a mile, I was carrying about 10 lbs of purchases from Target. I went to Target to get my prescription but then forgot that part.

Friday:  I walked to the sporting goods store to exchange goggles. Then I walked to Sprouts. Then I walked to Target. It was probably 1.5 miles worth of walking. I also walked around Target. I had 5 lbs of groceries or so that I was walking with.

Around 3PM I went to the apartment complex pool to swim. I swam 1/4 mi and got out of the pool. I emailed people complaining how bad I am at swimming. Then I spent 5 minutes changing the nose spacing thing on my goggles.  I got back in the pool and swam 1/8 mile. Man was I tired so I got out and thought I'd quit. I texted Dave and complained but then said I'd regret it if I didn't do a full half mile so I got back in and did 1/8 mi. It took me 32 minutes of swimming. The 2nd time in the pool, I mainly did freestyle so it was faster but I was more tired.  When my goggles worked the best, I swam better. Once the goggles started leaking, then I would stop in the middle and mess with them and yell at my goggles in my head. 

Saturday: I went to Santa Cruz with Hilary and Wes. We ran part of the half marathon course. We have 5 weeks. Man am I going to die. It was hillier than I'm used to.  I had a protein bar for breakfast so I had food before the run.  We ran with 4:1 intervals. I feel like we were a little slower when we were unsure about turns.   Overall we were fairly consistent which is good. We did only run 7 miles though.  The last .3 or so I finished with Wes and we went faster.  I like to end on a very high note even if I have to really push myself. I didn't even have to push that hard this time. 

We only ran the last mile or so with Wes. He ran separately and then walked until we caught up with him. He ran at a 7:20 pace for what he ran.  I wish I could run at a 7:20 pace. 

We actually ran the first 6 miles with Justin and Donut. Hilary and Wes knew Justin and Donut is his dog. 

The change of scenery made the run better. I really should run in some new places and maybe I will stop skipping my runs.  I need to be able to run more than 5 miles straight. Right now the only runs longer than that have been at a 4:1 ratio.

Note Hilary's watch has a longer distance because twice we stopped and both times I forgot to start my watch. Once we stopped because we had to figure out which direction to turn based on our printed directions and the second time was so Donut could stop for a drink of water.  I ran with a bottled water in my hand. That was pretty annoying. I only drank about half of it but was glad I had it. 

After we were done running, we changed, and drove to a closer parking spot. Then we walked 3/4 mi and ate lunch. After that we walked the 3/4 mi back to the car. 

It was my first time ever at Santa Cruz. It was so pretty. I wish I would have taken more pictures or really any. 

I got some sunburn. I didn't even realize until I was home and Dave made a comment when he first saw me. Then later he said I kept getting redder. 

Sunday:  I was exhausted and busy most of the day. I only ended up doing a core workout, foam roller, and stretching. 

Total Running Mileage: 11.34 mi 
Total Biking Mileage: 15.35 mi
Total other things: a few walks,  1 swim, 2 bike rides, 1 weight lifting, 3 core workouts.

Summary: I thought last week was bad and this week I ran a few hundreths less. I did workout everyday and did a lot more cross training this week. I still need to stop being so awful at swimming before I'll sign up for the triathlon.