towpath marathon training, week 7

Weird week!  The plan this week was to adjust my workouts so I would get my long run in on Friday morning before heading up to Michigan for a bachelorette party.  Well, I forgot that I live in the Midwest now and the weather is way more of a wildcard than it ever was in Arizona...

Monday

Speedwork

6.67 miles / 8:50 pace

Lifting

The mistake I made with this workout was that I forgot to bring my water in to the gym.  So after my speedwork, I had water from the water fountain but it wasn't enough. I felt terrible once I started lifting and for the rest of the night. Never EVER forget to bring your own water with you to the gym so you stay properly hydrated, especially after drenching the treadmill with your sweat.

On a side note, we usually get these annual deals on Nespresso machines at work so I finally decided to get one, which was a risk in my eyes since I am not a big fan of Keurig machines. However...this machine is awesome! The coffee is actually a really good quality and the machine is small and doesn't take up too much space.  

Tuesday

Bike

Yoga

Got the biking done in the morning in some kind of weird super tired daze. It was a 50 minute workout which I did not realize! (10 min easy, 6 x (2 min hard, 3 min easy), 10 min easy)

Wednesday

Tempo

6 mi / 8:53 pace

So at work, it was our 150th Anniversary, so we received a bunch of company products, including.. Raisinets. I ate this entire box with my lunch.  I thought it wouldn't impact me 6 hours later during my run but nope. Oh how I miss the days where I could be young and binge away...

Our CEO speaking at the lobby event.  I also am pretty excited about Instagram stories since my family (looking at you Jenny and Sarah!) doesn't have Snapchat.

I have been pretty great about not eating sweets but when I see a cupcake with delectable frosting...

So good..but so bad.

Thursday

Rest

Going back to my intention to run long Friday morning - I took Thursday as a rest day....which included no drinking at happy hour and carbing up appropriately.. 

Ollie thinks that my pillows are actually his pillows.

Friday

Lifting

However, it's the Midwest and Mother Nature does not care about your long run.

If I had a short run this morning, I would've done it, but since the red on the radar was moving towards the southeast,  I didn't want to chance my long run being cut short by severe weather, and being caught a long ways away from my car in the middle of a storm. I have done that before and it's not fun. Well, it was fun that time because I was running in the zoo but you know what I mean.

Then lots of snacks occurred in Michigan. (Bachelorette Party!)

Bacon-wrapped jalapeños.

Saturday

Rest

Tunnel Beach.

Sunday

Long Run

10 mi
6.29 mi, 8:56 pace
3.71, 8:30 pace

So I learned that sometimes you just won't get the miles in and it's just going to have to work. I felt fine post-Bachelorette shenanigans on Sunday morning, and since everybody was sleeping in, I decided to get a few miles in, but I knew I couldn't get the planned 18 in all at once. (P.S. I am shocked these runs were even at these paces thanks to all the eating and drinking on Saturday. Hydration is so important!!)

It was perfect weather.

I had every intention of running the last 11.8 when I got back into St. Louis but I just decided to stick to rounding out at 10 for the day since the only time I could work out was 5-5:15a Monday morning.  My half marathon is this Sunday, otherwise I would have gone for more miles. I'm glad at least I chose to cut back the mileage just for recovery's sake and not because I was injured or something.

Cute coffee shop in Saugatuck.

So, yes, heading to Cleveland next weekend to run in the Rock Hall Half Marathon on Sunday. I will be ecstatic if I finish under 1:45 since I feel like it's taking forever to get into decent shape!