Memorial Day marked a halfway point. Fifteen weeks since my last marathon and fifteen weeks until my next one. I’m still really excited about training for Erie and this turned out to be a great week. It ended with a huge PR at the half marathon distance and a few days later, I’m still flying pretty high. Here’s how the week leading up to the race shook out.
Monday, 5/28, Morning Crew – Bike 25 miles
My parents were in town for the weekend so the Incredible Mervus and I took advantage of free built-in baby-sitting and went for a great ride together! We used to ride a lot back in our courtin’ days, a bazillion years ago, but it’s hard to manage with kids and jobs so this was a real treat. The kids were still asleep when we got home – easiest babysitting gig ever!
Tuesday, 5/29, Early Morning Crew – 6 miles total, cruise intervals as 2 miles WU, 4×800 at 4:00 w/400 recovery jog, 1 mile CD
My running log notes for today say: “I went into this with a lot of confidence and that was justified.” That could be the theme for the week. It took me one 800 to find the pace and then it felt like I could have kept right on cruising. 3:47; 3:56; 4:02; 3:56.
Wednesday, 5/30, Early Morning Crew – 4 miles (8:45 pace), plus weights later
I ran early because of the heat and even at 5:45am, this felt pretty disgusting. I’m also finishing up grading and my brain felt like total mush. Given all that, I still ran at 8:45 pace and that was genuinely easy, so perhaps my brain is mush but my legs are okay.
Thursday, 5/24, School Bus Crew – 7 miles, hill sprints
Hill sprints again, this week 7 x 15 seconds each. I still love these. I must still be crazy. I also went to get some dry needling from the Maestro today. My right glute and quad have been ridiculously tight and I just about jumped off the table when he stuck the needle in. It worked like a charm though and I felt so much better afterwards.
Friday, 5/25, Morning Crew – 9 miles biking, 45 minutes
No trail run for me today because of the race this weekend. I was happy to be able to bike instead. By now, I was definitely thinking a lot about the race.
New singlets arrived just in time for race day!
Saturday, 5/26, Morning Crew – 3 miles plus strides
This felt really good. I confess to sometimes peeking at my pace during strides so I knew these were fast. The rest of the day was spent applying for passports, shuttling kids around, and dealing with household chores.
Sunday, 5/27, Early Morning Crew – Iron Horse Half Marathon – 1:45:45 – PR by 5 minute 43 seconds!!!
Race report coming soon!
Total: 35 miles