Weekly Recap - Kiawah Half Marathon Training Week 6 (10/16-10/22)

I've got no rhythm

Well, actually I do, but not when it comes to getting my weekly workout schedule in order. I'm all over the place. Generally, I get most of my running and strength in, but it's all over the place when I run, or I run but don't do the intended workout because my schedule's been knocked off and I'm tired from the strength I did the day before (since I'm still getting used to a fuller workout schedule again).

But at least I'm finally out there and not having ridiculous UTI issues (good freaking riddance!) and it's still warm and humid enough to bother my asthma, but I'm powering on through. Looks like cooler temps are on the way soon.

So with that said, here's what my week looked like.

Workout summary

  
   Monday
   BodyFlow
  
   Tuesday
    Easy 4.09 @ 8:15 pace 
  
   Wednesday
   Off
  
   Thursday
    Easy 5 - 2 on my own @ 8:27 pace, 3 with my running group @ 9:34 (I got super nauseated in the last mile and had to run/walk) 
  
   Friday
   BodyFlow
  
Saturday
    9 mile family bike ride 
  
   Sunday
   Long run - 9.01 miles at 8:57 pace
  
   Totals
    3 runs / 18.10 miles

Monday

What I planned: BodyFlow
What happened: BodyFlow
Monday went as planned. Awesome.

In non-running news, we got our house decorated for Halloween on Monday. I painted pumpkins for our pumpkin patch and set up our dancing ghosts. One of B's favorite Halloween books is Five Little Pumpkins, so I told him we'd do that in our yard.

Our pumpkin patch - five little pumpkins

Tuesday

What I planned: Speedwork - 6 mile progressive (treadmill)
What happened: Easy 4.09 outside at an 8:15 pace
This was our most decent weather day. It was almost fall-like with temps around 60 when I ran. The humidity at 69% kept it from really feeling like fall. It wasn't perfect but definitely much better than what's it's been.

So that made for a pretty good run, although, I opted out of speedwork because I did a weird quad tweak thing in BodyFlow on Monday and it was bothering me when I ran. Nothing major, but I just felt better about giving it a bit of a rest before trying speedwork.

Wednesday

What I planned: Speedwork
What happened: Nothing
I was tired and work was jam packed on Wednesday, so I just used it as my day off this week.

Thursday

What I planned: Easy 2 on my own plus an easy 3 with my running group
What happened: Easy 2 on my own plus an easy 3 with my running group
More humidity and annoying dew points, but I got in my miles. I went early to where my running group meets and ran 2 miles on my own at an 8:27 pace, then ran 3 with the group: mile 1 - 9:32, mile 2 - 8:46, mile 3 - weird and overwhelming nausea that forced me to run/walk the rest of the way. I'm going to go ahead and say it was the fast food dinner I ate. And that is why I never eat fast food.

Friday

What I planned: BodyFlow
What happened: BodyFlow
Another morning at BodyFlow class. That's always a good thing.

Saturday

What I planned: Easy 3
What happened: 9 mile family bike ride
I have no idea what my issue was, but I really didn't feel like running on Saturday morning, and it was a beautiful day for a bike ride. So I did that instead, and I'm okay with it.

Sunday

What I planned: Long run - 9 miles with my running group
What happened: Long run - 9.01 miles on my own at an 8:57 pace
I woke up with a migraine on Sunday and there was no way I was going to be able to drag myself out to meet my running group at 8 am. So I skipped that, but fortunately, started to feel okay by mid-morning and headed out on my own. It was humid (87%), and the dew point was high (67), but at least there was a decent breeze.

I expected this run to be more of a struggle, but I felt really good for the most part and I'm happy with my overall training this time around. This run was definitely a confidence booster, especially considering the weather and how I was feeling. I didn't experience fatigue or soreness after the run (or DOMS later on), so I'm thinking the pace I hit was definitely right for that run, and I'm getting used to these longer distances again.

On Sunday afternoon, I sewed the spikes onto B's Halloween costume. You guys, I felt more accomplished doing that than I did after my 9 mile, confidence-boosting run. I haven't sewn anything in forever. I'm proud of myself.

House Updates

They have the brick on the front, which I don't have a whole house picture of because my iPhone is dying a slow death and not properly saving pictures (time to upgrade this week before we head out to Disney, I guess). But here's a small sliver of of what it looks like and a picture of it partially on (and Meadow Beagle says "hello"):

Greeting committee - MEadow Beagle in a Stroller

And there's paint on the walls. It's an awful color, but they only gave us about 5 color choices for paints and none of them were the perfect shade of white. I'm serious. There are thousands of shades of white out there.

So, rather than paying for paint I didn't really want, I opted for their standard "Antique Ivory" that came with the house. We'll repaint when we move in. Plus I have to hang at least 50 different white paint samples on various walls throughout the house to pick the perfect one, at least in the main living spaces, my office, and our bedroom.

All other walls are up for debate as to what color they'll be painted, and they'll get their own paint sample love when I figure that out. But in the main living spaces, I do love me some white walls. They're the perfect blank canvas for all kinds of colorful art and decorations.

That paint color...can't wait to change it

So that's a wrap! All things considered, it was a good week for workouts (and house building!). My coach is helping me get my workouts scheduled a bit better since I've been having trouble with the way my runs were lining up with group runs and strength classes. Hopefully that does the trick and I find my workout rhythm again so I can get in all of my workouts as planned this coming week.

How was your week? Do you stick to a solid schedule or does it fluctuate from week to week?