Weekly Recap - Fall Base Building Week 1 (8/7-8/13)

Alright, here we are. Building our base (really). We are getting ready for fall. We are not slacking off. We just finished Base Building Week 1. And I'll stop using the royal we now.

I have about 5 weeks until fall training officially starts for Kiawah. No more lollygagging.

Starting tomorrow. I lollygagged a bit last week. It happens.

Last week was spent working, working, working as well as getting ready to head out on vacation. By the time you read this, I'll actually be on vacation.

I'm off from the day job this coming week, but I'm still putting in some freelance hours (#digitalnomad and all that). But I'm thrilled to be heading to much cooler weather up in PA. It's always cooler there than here in Charleston, but it's supposed to be slightly unseasonable cool for the week we're there and I can't wait! I'm looking forward to some decent running weather.

But first, let's talk about what happened last week, which wasn't so bad, considering how much work I had to do and that I had to get the family ready to go on vacation. Vacation prep: that's 3 dogs going to dog resort (food, treats ready, etc), 1 dog traveling with us (pick up meds from two different places, pack all her stuff), 1 three-old who doesn't travel very lightly, and me, plus a bit of last minute shopping to pick everything up we'll need. My vacation prep list was long. I left D to fend for himself on that front. I had enough to do.

Because of all of that vacation prep on top of my regular week, I didn't get myself to strength or yoga. It wasn't exactly the base building week I hoped for, but I did get in 4 runs. I'm holding steady there and next week, hopefully I'll be back up at 5.

Here's how it shook out:

Workout summary

  
   Monday
   Off
  
   Tuesday
    5.01 miles at 8:57 pace 
  
   Wednesday
   3.06 miles at 8:38 pace
  
   Thursday
    No workout - blah 
  
   Friday
   3 miles (no watch)
  
Saturday
    Off - travel day 
  
   Sunday
   3.71 miles at 8:18 pace
  
   Totals
    4 runs/ 14.78 miles

Monday

What I planned: Nothing
What happened: Nothing

I knew Monday was going to be a busy work day, and I decided to take a rest day that day. I generally prefer to work out on Mondays to get the week started well, but that just wasn't my plan this week. Given how the rest of the week went, I probably should have stuck with #nevermissamonday. Oh well.

Tuesday

What I planned: 5 mile run @ easy pace
What happened: 5.01 miles at 8:57 pace

It was so incredibly humid on Tuesday and I just could not breathe. Asthma, humidity and high dew points (98 and 79, respectively, that day) are not friends. The entire run I felt like I had a pile of bricks on my chest and Saran Wrap wrapped around my entire body and face. It was like suffocating. But I'm very glad I got it done.

Wednesday

What I planned: Stretch Zone + 3 mile run @ easy pace with friends
What happened: Stretch Zone + 3.06 miles at 8:38 pace (with friends)

I'm starting to live for these Wednesday runs with friends. It is so nice to get out of the house and run with other people again. I've missed that over the past few years. I'm stoked to be training with some of them for Kiawah, too. We'll be doing Track Tuesdays, Thirsty Thursdays (run + pub afterwards), and Sunday Runday for our long runs. Excited!

Even though the weather was still gross (so humid and dew points still hanging around the "you might die" range), I was pleased to see my pace on this run. I'm definitely, definitely seeing consistent improvements like I haven't seen since probably before I was pregnant. Yay!

Thursday

What I planned: 6 miles of speedwork (800s)
What happened: Nothing

I don't even know. I had so many things I needed to get done for work (day job and freelance/business) and not enough hours to get them done, so I just put my head down and powered through. And totally missed all workout windows for the entire day. It happens.

Friday

What I planned: Sports chiropractor visit
What happened: Sports chiropractor visit + 3 miles (no watch)

Because Saturday was a travel day for us, I realized I wouldn't be getting my Saturday run in at all. So I moved it to Friday. I didn't have a ton of time because I still had a lot of work to get done plus finishing up packing and shopping, so I just did 3 miles. I would have liked to have done 5, but that just wasn't going to work out with my schedule.

Friday evening, I kicked off my vacation with a happy hour with two friends - the perfect start to vacation!

Saturday

What I planned: Nothing - travel day
What happened: Nothing - travel day

We traveled. By car. With a 3-year-old and an old beagle. It was a long, long, long day.

Sunday

What I planned: 6 miles run @ long run pace
What happened: 4.71 miles at 8:18 pace

Even though I wanted to do at least a 6 mile run on Sunday morning, I was exhausted from our long travel day on Saturday (14 hours in the car with tons of stops for a 3-year-old and ancient beagle) and our epic bedtime battle. We didn't get to sleep until around 1 and I didn't sleep very well at all. So I squeezed in just under 4 miles in my old neighborhood in PA.

Sunday Runday Views - The brick house in the picture on the right is ours (we lived there when we lived in PA and we rent it out now) - Someday, we'll use it as our vacation home #goals

I haven't run that exact route since we moved away from PA. With the exception of the start and end point (we're staying in an AirBnB right around the corner from the house we lived in), it was the same as my old running route from when we lived there.

Last time I ran it, I ran around a 9:30 pace and was a brand new runner.

This time, more than 5 years, tons of races, a few moves, a pregnancy, a baby, and tons of health issues and recovery later: an 8:18 pace in wonderful fall-like (to this Southerner) weather. And that was still with being stiff and exhausted from the travel day before. I'm hoping to get in some really good runs this week while we're here.

I ended Sunday by throwing a surprise 40th birthday party for D at his parents' house. He. Had. No. Clue. And he was pretty pissed at me for "wasting time" instead of going to his parents' house earlier in the day.

And now I'm off to enjoy our PA vacation and visits with friends and family!

How was your week? Do you run when you're on vacation?