My training this week was spot on. I hit the pace, time and feeling that I wanted every single run. That isn’t something I can say very often in a weekly training post.
I honestly have nothing to complain or say went wrong with this week. So I won’t. I had a perfect lead up to Shamrock and I couldn’t be more pleased.
| Monday |
12.15 Tempo |
7:27 |
| Tuesday |
Off |
|
| Wednesday |
12.5 Easy |
8:09 |
| Thursday |
11.75 Treadmill Tempo |
8:03 |
| Friday |
OFF |
|
| Saturday |
10 easy untimed |
|
| Sunday |
SHAMROCK HALF |
1:25.32 |
I’ve had really good luck with a two day taper for half marathons (which is what I did this week). I normally have a semi normal week with an extra rest day then rest and take it easy for the back half of the week.
On Monday I had an outdoor tempo run. I ran 6 miles easy and 6 miles hard. The tempo itself felt pretty smooth. I was able to hold a 6:50 pace without too much difficulty. I was honestly pretty surprised.
Tuesday I rested. On Wednesday I did a normal easy run around my area. It wasn’t anything exciting and what I would normally do to shake out my legs. I am pleased with how much faster my easy runs have become. 3 months ago I found myself slogging easy runs between 8:30-9 min pace.
Thursday’s tempo on the treadmill was a bit slower and from a naked eye you couldn’t tell it was a tempo run. My go to treadmill workout is 45 minutes of easy and then 45 minutes progressive (with a 5 min easy cooldown at the end). It seems to work well for me. I wanted a faster run to keep my legs ready but I didn’t want a run similar to Monday that would leave me needing more days to recover.
After Thursday’s tempo I drove home and took Friday off.
I spent Friday relaxing and going to one of the local school’s pep rallys. The Shamrock Race series also puts together a “final mile” for students in the area. They run 25.2 miles on their own and run the final mile to the finish line (the same mile the 8k, half and full run at the end). They raise money for Operation Smile. The school I went to help out with raised over 1600 dollars. It is truly remarkable to see how hard these kids work and love running so early! I helped volunteer at the pep rally and it was a lot of fun. Long story short, I rested.
Saturday was an untimed Shakeout run. I had a great, easy run. I focused on myself and my goals. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better week this week. (Maybe that is why I’m worried!).
I ran a 1:25.32 at Shamrock which is exactly the same as at Lake Effect last week. I’m relatively pleased with this time. I obviously wanted a PR (1:24.49) but it was not in the cards today. I could feel that around mile 5 I was not going to PR. I’m definitely pleased though and it is tied for my third fastest half marathon.
Since I didn’t draw any photos I’ll leave you with this one.
Questions for you:
Did you have Pep Rallys as School?
I loved them! (These kids on Friday did too!)
What was your best/favorite workout of the week?
Congrats Hollie!!! It may not be a PR but that is still an impressive time, nice job!
Amazing week, and I’m happy you went out there and gave it all you got with the doubts you had going into it. 🙂 Brava, missy!
Awesome time! Good that you are happy with your weekly training and race.
Fantastic week of running and a great time – 3rd fastest is nothing for disappointment! 🙂 I am enjoying my kids’ pep rallys now that they are in high school … mine were a LONG time ago!
Congratulations on yet another amazing race, and week of workouts! I wish I could run anywhere near your time for one race in my lifetime, let alone two so close together!
xxx
I know you will be able to do it Jess!
Nice work and congrats on another solid race! The last pep rally I’ve been to was during high school. Talk about a throwback. Our fall sports teams were really, really good, so the pep rallies were always a big deal.
Another great race for you!! Congrats! My best workout this past week would be my race. Although it was painful I still enjoyed it.
Awesome week! Congrats on another amazing 1/2 – so consistent! I have a feeling a 1/2 PR is in the cards for you VERY soon! We had pep rallies in middle school… but not very often in high school. Like you, I couldn’t be more thrilled with this week of training! Managed to pull out 800’s, mile repeats, a long run I’m over the moon about and a 7k PR! Obviously I’m now dead to the world and have been napping off/on all afternoon! Love the photos!
Amazing race! You are one speedy girl! My fav workout this week was at boot camp. It was a lower body/cardio focus that incorporated many squats, lunges, ski jumping, star jumps and pistons. I’m still feeling it! 😉
I’m feeling it just thinking about that LOL!
We had pep rallies most of the time, except the year I was a senior because kids in my class started chanting “f*ck you freshmen” and then we were in trouble. There was always a contest to get the spirit stick and whichever class was the loudest won. I guess we got out of hand 😉
I’m really proud of you for working on paces and sticking to your guns on things that work (your 10 mile pre race shake out etc!). You have been doing so awesome, even though shamrock wasn’t a PR, you are getting much more consistent in those faster times which is huge!
I can’t believe you call running 10 miles, the day before a half marathon, a taper! LOL.
Congrats on running a great race though, definitely one to be proud of.