Week 1 of Half Marathon Training (11.26-12.2)

I found a half marathon I think I want to run.  It is February 16 so that would make this week the first week of a 12 week training plan.  For some reason the training plan on smart coach started midweek and I didn't really pay attention to it so I won't share what all it had.

Monday: I was going to run 3 miles and kept putting it off. Finally I had to get started to get the run in before dark.  I could have probably run another 2 minutes with sufficient amount of daylight.

I set out with different goal times than normal so I put them on the right side of the table.  The last .12 would have been faster but it was quitting time for all the contractors in the apartment complex so I had to slow down for cars and to go around people.  Also at 2.86 I had some difficulty crossing the street so it slowed me way down.  With that in mind, I was probably closer to 9 minute mile pace but ending with 9:01 makes me mad and I wish I went a tad further in the parking lot just to lower the average.

This is the third day in a row that I ran, but this is the furthest of the three days.

An hour and a half after I was done running, I went to the gym to lift weights. I only had 20 minutes before Dave would be home and I used every second of that.

Tuesday: Planned for a rest day but then I spent 2 hours shopping, walked to dinner, and went for a 17 minute walk with Dave.

Wednesday: I planned to run and figured I'd do 3 miles.  Then I thought I should look at my spreadsheet to see how close I am to my monthly goal. I figured out I had to do 5.58 miles (plus the 10 with Hilary on Friday) to meet my goal. I haven't hit my mileage goal in many months so I figured I'd try that.  I knew it'd be tough plus with this not being my real long run, I decided to make it easy so I did not struggle. I ran slow. I also did 4:1 intervals. I ran around a 10 minute pace.  I kept track of my bonus seconds (or more like penalty seconds) the entire time.  Two minutes into the run, I had to wait for the walk signal so I didn't stop my run/walk app for that. Therefore I ran the first 7 minutes before my walk break.  I also ran the entire 6th mile. I paused my timer to cross another busy street but did not stop the run walk app so it made my walk a little shorter. I think I also skipped the walk in the last half mile.

Since I went slow and steady, I did not die at all.

My right knee started hurting 5.8 miles into the run.  That is better than the last few times.

You can see the peaks and valleys based on the walk/run.  You can also see how I was increasing at the beginning but then there was a drop off.  That was because I had to wait at the traffic light for 2 minutes and I didn't keep my heart rate up.   I ran the entire 6th mile and you can see there are no dips for a bit near the end.

Looking at the speed graph, you can tell how many times I walked.

Everything to the left of Hollenbeck is not where I normally run.  I think I ran over there one other time. 

In the evening I went for a walk with Dave.

Thursday: I only did a core workout.  I was resting up in preparation for my long run.

Friday: It was raining and it sucked.  Then about 2.5 miles in, it started raining even harder and made the earlier rain seem nice. My knee didn't start hurting until about 5.5 miles into it. This time it hurt above my knee.   We were going to do 10 but with the rain we thought about doing less. I suggested 6.  When we got to 2.99, the trail was closed.  It was closed right before a portion that goes under a road. Almost perfect timing.

We ran a mile then walked .08. Then at each half mile increment we walked .08 until 3 then we switched it to .12 walking.  I didn't take my phone so I didn't have my run/walk app so we were guessing what it should have been. Almost every split that had 0 walking in it was about a 9:30 pace so we were running faster than I ran on Wednesday but our walking was a bit slower so our later mile splits were slower. Plus .12 ends up longer than a minute. Well I'm just guessing that. I never once figured it out based on the watch.

Saturday: I didn't have a specific workout but I did a lot of sightseeing. I had over 10,000 steps and on Sunday I woke up and my plantar fasciitis was killing me and my calves also hurt.

Sunday: I didn't run again. I did tons of sightseeing and I also walked the almost 2 miles across the Golden Gate Bridge.  I had more steps than Saturday.  Dave had a new personal best with steps (and calorie burn, moderate activity, average METs, and physical activity).

Total Miles: 15.75 mi (my highest mileage week since August)

Overall Summary:  I think my mileage is higher now that I am not "training" but I'm not doing speedwork. Now that I have a training plan again maybe I can get back into the speedwork and not just quit when I'm not increasing the mileage like I should be.