Week 9 Recap

Photo Credit:  Gregor Murray

Week 9 of 12 on the road to the Windward Half Marathon:

Training Log

Sunday: Stretch and Strength - Relaxing rest day.

Monday: 5 mile run -  Beautiful and quiet morning in Kailua.  Summer is over so all the kids are in school.  Had to run early before the first day of our homeschooling year.

Tuesday: Speed work - 9 x 400 at 5K pace - Decided that this was the time to push the speed.  Ran a mile at 10 minute pace, then ran 1/2 mile at 10 minute pace then ran two 1/4 miles at 10 minute pace.  Did the last 1/4 mile in under 10 minute pace.  Felt great to push myself, but definitely paid for it later.

Wednesday: 3 mile run and strength - Just like last week, I switched Wednesday's 3 mile run with a rest day.  Schedule was too crazy.

Thursday: Rest day - Got back to running the Mokulele Drive hill.  It always amazes me how I can run 10 miles on Saturday, but this 3 mile run with a huge hill makes me feel like a chain smoker!  My lungs just burn on that hill!  Humbling.

Friday:  Rest day - Since the schedule has me running a "15-K Race" on Saturday, they allowed for an extra rest day today.  I gladly took it.  The first week of school here at home made for an adjustment to the schedule.  Can I really do this?!

Saturday:  15-K Race - I didn't have an official race to participate in, so I just ran the 9.3 mile track I  ran a couple of weeks ago.  This was a really hard run.  I guess with too much rest, and too little sleep the night before I struggled from mile 5 on.  Thankfully, I had 2 GU packs with me to help me make it back to the car.

The best thing about this week:   Was glad to have the extra rest day in the schedule this week.

The biggest challenge of this week:   I've noticed that with the added miles, my running gear is more important than ever.  I can't wear socks that are too small or my feet will start to hurt.  I also have had a couple of "wardrobe malfunctions" that didn't occur under 6 miles.  (Without going into gory detail, lets just say that chafing can be an issue.)  Even the length of my toenails is critical to happy feet!  Glad to have the opportunity to fix them now, and not be surprised during the race.

Three weeks to go!  Officially signed up for the race.  No turning back now!