Just like with Rushmore, I fell off the wagon in posting my weekly recaps! I'll jump into this by saying Week 10 was a wash of a week (but I'll get there) and took it easy Week 12 (a.k.a. Race Week and we'll talk about that in my race recap). Since I am writing this after my race, I also cannot remember exactly what happened or why I was feeling certain ways to take rest days when I did so those days will be skipped in the recap. Let's get to it!
WEEK 9 SUMMARY
TOTAL MILES: 17.74 miles
TOTAL TIME: 3h 59m 34s
Day 2 - 45 minute Cross Training
Time got the better of me so I swapped my schedule around and did some yoga instead. We were encouraged to use our blocks the whole time and I loved it! This class moved slower and I was able to keep up. I usually struggle, even in beginner classes, to keep up but using the blocks and the slower pace I felt like I got the best stretch! Spoiler alert...I've repeated this class a couple times!
Day 3 - 5 mile Benchmark
I may have finished this in the dark but it was the first time I got to run outside in over a month! It was a beautiful day and I knew that I would finish after dark but I was determined to run outside once my husband got home. This was a wonderful way to gauge my training except that my second benchmark was ran on the treadmill. I finished all 5 miles in exactly 65 minutes. That's a whole 3 minutes faster than the first time I ran this route and 7 minutes faster than on the treadmill!
Day 6 - 12 mile Long Run
OMG THE HILLS! Besides being 100% grateful that I got to run outside, these damn hills in my neighborhood are brutal! I did text and call my friend to see if she would be home just in case I needed to use the bathroom (she wasn't and I didn't) and around mile 5 I had a bad feeling that I was getting blisters on both feet. Around mile 7 I had to tighten my shoes a little because I could feel my feet slipping, which got me thinking that would be the reason I was getting blisters. About a quarter mile later, I came around a turn and saw one of the final big hills that I was going to face. I turned my face to the sky and I prayed to God. I've trained myself to run 0.4 miles and walk 0.1 miles and I prayed that I would finish my run by the time I got to the base of that hill so I could start my walk instead of running up the bottom...and I did! Around mile 11 I was convinced that not only did I have blisters on both feet but that the ones on my left foot has ripped open. It took some time once I got home before I could reach my feet and enlisted my daughter's help to peel my socks off to make the final reveal. Yes I got blisters on both feet. Yes they were both located between my big toe and second toe going from the ball of my foot to between my toes. No they did not bust open like I thought!
Fun fact about blisters: you can drain them just don't cut the skin open and peel it (that raw skin is sensitive and at risk of infection). You can also jump start the healing process by using black tea bags! Soak tea bags in boiling water for about 2 minutes to ensure that all the tea leaves get wet, carefully squeeze out all the water, press to your blisters, wrap with plastic wrap and let those sit on your blisters for at least an hour before removing. You can do this before or after you drain your blisters.
WEEK 10 SUMMARY
Those blisters took me out for this week. I wanted to make sure that the skin had plenty of time to heel without splitting to prevent infection. I was determined to not let anything get in the way of race day! The original plan was to do some form of yoga, stretching, foam rolling or whatever this week but my daughter started to test her boundaries and by Thursday this week I felt defeated. I spent the whole day crying and feeling like a total failure.
WEEK 11 SUMMARY
TOTAL MILES: 19.4
TOTAL TIME: 4h 29m 57s
Day 1 - 3 mile Recovery Run
Didn't feel like running while watching a show so I found this 45 minute 90s Pop Fun Run on Peloton. This is an older class because there were people in the room with Rebecca Kennedy (my fav tread instructor). I actually wasn't expecting to complete my 3 miles in the 45 minutes and thought that I would end up running a little after but managed to get all my miles in by the end of class.
Day 3 - 5 mile Tempo Run
I wasn't really sure what to do for this run. The run said 4 mile Tempo Run but then in the description it said 1 mile warm up, 3 mile tempo, and 1 mile cool down. Correct me if I'm wrong but that adds up to 5 miles not 4. I decided to get through 2 tempo miles before I decided if I would do a third or not. Since the previous week was a wash, I wasn't going to be mad if I did an extra mile. I did feel good so I did the third tempo mile and then cool down. I maintained my 0.1 walk and 0.4 run at 1% incline. Here's my speeds:
Warm up: walk 3.5, run 4.5
Tempo: walk 2.5, first mile ran 4.7, second mile 4.8, third mile 4.9 first half and 5.0 second half
Cool down: walk 3.5, ran 4.6 first half and 4.5 for second half
Day 4 - 4 mile Speed Run
This was a 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down, and 4 x 800m speed work with 2 minute walking breaks between each 800m run. My warm ups and cool downs are not in my notes but I'm guessing I walked between 2.5 and 3.5 and ran at 4. For my first 800m (0.5 miles) I ran at 5.0, second 800m at 5.5, third 800m 5.5, and fourth 800m 6.0. I did my walks off treadmill and even stretched my shins and calves. Wish I could have ran this at a track but since school is in session and I don't know when tracks are open to the public but I made it work!
Day 6 - 7 mile Long Run
This was my final long run before my race. Can we just take a minute to focus in on that average mile pace?! 12:59/mi!!! That blew me out of the water! 7 miles would have taken me 1h 45m. That's almost a whole mile per hour faster than when I trained for my first race. I made sure to reverse my walking and running so I ran 0.4 first and walked 0.1 second. That would mean on race day it would be run from 12.5 to 12.9, walk 12.9 to 13 and then can run as fast as I could to the finish line in that last 0.1 miles! That is a story for a different time (like Race Week & Day Recap...coming soon)!
WHAT'S ON DECK FOR NEXT WEEK:
I'm not even going to list out the workouts because I didn't do them. It was supposed to be three 3 mile runs, two at race pace and one recovery run, and a cross training day. Be patient...I'm working through the emotions still from the last 12 weeks and can't wait to go over everything!
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