Half Training Week 11 Complete

This was my penultimate week before the Disney Princess Half, which is coming up so soon, Sunday February 27th. This was my highest mileage week, 22 total miles, and also included my longest run this training cycle, 11 miles. I'm still thinking after this race it will be time to replace my shoes, it's probably time now, but, I don't want to run the race in new shoes, silly I know, but they always tell you not to run a race in new gear, so I'll be abiding by this and making the half my last race in my trusty lime green Mizuno Wave Inspire 6's before I switch over to my new pink Inspire 6's that I bought on discount a couple months ago that are now waiting for me under the bed.

Monday began with an easy 5 miler, but it was anything but easy. My legs felt tired and heavy, my left shin was especially tight and achy still, I had to stop a mile into the run to stretch and massage it a little. Other than that I tried to keep the pace slower and mellow and just try to get it done. I was very happy when it was over and I could check it off my calendar this week.

 

Tuesday was tempo day, Tempo Tuesday! I'm still unsure how I feel about tempo runs, part of me likes them, part of me loathes them. The goal for this one was 1 mile warm up, 4 miles at a 10:12 tempo pace, and 1 mile cooldown. I blew it out of the water! My left shin was still achy and tight, I stopped after mile 2 and stretched and massaged and loosened up and was fine. I kept the tempo miles at a fairly consistent pace (just look at those 9:4x splits) and mellowed it out for the cooldown. Overall, a great tempo!

Thursday I ended up doing my long run due to traveling over the weekend. I had 11 miles on the schedule and it seemed overwhelming at first, but I knew I could do it, I've done it before, I could do it again. The weather was about 67 degrees out and cloudy, but incredibly windy. Nothing hurt on this run and I felt great. I ended up taking one and a half Chocolate Outrage GUs, one at 3.37 miles and one at 6 miles. I carried my handheld water bottle, which I have been doing on most outdoor runs longer than 3 miles lately, and I refilled it when I took the GU at 6 miles. I love the handheld, I love being able to sip on water whenever I need it and not having to worry about finding a water fountain or ducking into a store or gas station or the gym. Overall, I think I kept a pretty steady pace, and I walked away from the run feeling like a bad ass, definitely confident that the PR I am so lusting after at Disney is possible! Here's hoping I have a good day that day!

Totals:
Monday: 5.06 miles, 51:38, 10:12 av pace
Tuesday: 6 miles, 59:34, 9:55 av pace
Thursday: 11 miles, 1:50:17, 10:01 av pace