2015 Half Marathon Training: Week 5

Happy Tuesday! Today I’m linking up with My No-Guilt Life, Run The Great Wide Somewhere, and MCM Mama Runs for Tuesdays on the Run! This week’s topic is core strength. I try to focus on core at least once a week. My favorite go-to is Runner’s World yoga center. The instructor, Rebecca, kicks my booty and it’s amazing. I highly recommend her videos. Core strength is super important for good running form. Also for lugging kids… and groceries…

Last week was a somewhat adventurous week of running for me. I suppose it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but I felt like it was. I had fun running and taking in the sights and sounds while out on the road and trails. Want to hear how it went? Great! Read on 🙂

Tuesday — 5 miles

Tuesday was Track Tuesday! Whoop! I met Julie at the track for some 400s. My pace was pretty darn hard. I was pushing 1:50 for each lap. It’s funny because when I recorded how I felt during my workout, my coach replied not to push “Puke Pace” for the 400s if I could avoid it. I got a nice chuckle out of that one. Because I’ve totally been to Puke Pace before. More than once.

While we were doing our 400s, there was a (high school?) football team practicing and doing drills. I felt bad for them. Only because they looked so darn miserable. Plus, when you’re not a runner, drills suck. They were also doing battle ropes and burpees. I kinda wanted to ask their coach if I could join in, but I decided to suffer on the track instead.

Wednesday — 5 miles

Wednesday was a damn near perfect day. Aiming for steady-state running, I warmed up with a 10+ min/mile for a mile, and then increased speed from there. Goal was to push 3 miles around 9:30 pace, but I actually ended up going quite a bit faster, and ended up with a very nice progression run. The weather was perfect. 62˚ and 88% humidity. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I caught quite a few deer sightings. Thankfully none were too close for comfort.

I counted the number of women runners/walkers I saw on Wednesday morning as I ran through our little city park. Out of the 12 people I saw being active on my run, how many do you suppose were men? Any guesses? 3. Only three men. Out of 5 miles and 12 people I encountered. I’m not sure the significance of such a number but it seems like women are overtaking the men in terms of physical fitness and outdoor sports.

Step it up, guys. We’re leaving you in the dust. Just sayin… 🙂

Thursday — 5 miles

Thursday miles were pretty good. I ran just over a mile with Noemi, who decided to turn back because she had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep the night before. I ran the rest of my route solo, and had a nice little kick of sprints around mile 2. It was fun! And I liked being able to hold a decent pace afterward for the remainder of my run.

There are far too many deer near where I live.

Saturday — 3.1 miles

On Saturday I ran the Race N’ Taste Trail 5K with my hubs. It was fun. But HOT. I’ll actually give you a full recap of the race in a separate post this week, but it was a great time. I’m looking forward to 2016!

Sunday — 3.1 miles

I met up with my 5K training group on Sunday for a few miles. This week we upped our run time, but kept our strength training session the same. I think overall the run was challenging but manageable for everyone.

I took them to the track this week, which was nice because we were all together but everyone could go a different speed if need be. Two girls who have been training with me for the last 5 weeks now have made great strides in terms of stamina and endurance, and another woman joined us who hasn’t been able to do many of the workouts over the last month. The two veteran runners ran together, and I ran with our newer member. It was a nice time. I got to work one-on-one with her and could focus energy on one athlete, while still being able to keep an eye on the other two. If we were on the trails it might have been a little harder to accomplish this, so I’ll be sure to keep that in mind for our next workout.

I ran one mile solo before my girls came to our training session, and then we knocked out just over 2 miles together on the track. It was a great morning.

The mercury has been steadily rising over the last two weeks in the CLE, so all of my runs last week were pretty toasty, and they’re sure to continue as such this week as well. I’m looking forward to it because hot weather running is my groove.

I’ll be increasing my mileage this week as well, which should be both exciting and challenging.

Have a great week, you guys!

How’s your weather? Are you a hot weather or cool weather person? Do you keep working out when the temperatures rise, or do you prefer to take it indoors?