Weekly workouts: Wrapping up the spring 2015 season and looking ahead (4/6-4/12)

15 Apr

I kept all of my running short and easy this week. No long run or speedwork, just some easy miles to help get my head back on straight. Spoiler alert: it worked.

After Skidaway (and really in the weeks leading up to it), I was super unmotivated to run, but maybe a bad race is what I needed to get back on track. Now I'm busy getting ready for Nashville (hills be damned), and I'm planning my fall races. I've also resigned myself to the fact that I'm a turtle in this awful humidity. Maybe as summer wears on, I'll get more used to it, maybe not. But come fall, I'll be flying when the weather finally breaks!

I'm really excited to see what happens then because this is the first fall where I'm going into it having trained all summer and will be continuing to train once the weather gets nicer. Three years ago, I was a still a brand new runner in the fall; two years ago I got pregnant immediately after the weather started getting nicer, so I got faster and then I got really, really slow really, really fast; and last year, of course, I was just getting back into running after having baby B. So this year, maybe it's my year. I'm hoping it's my year anyway.

This spring was always supposed to be about laying the foundation for fall PRs. After surprising myself in Charleston, I thought maybe I could pull off some of those goals this spring, but obviously, my first inclination was the right one. So foundation-laying it is! And fall is about laying the foundation for a possible late winter/early spring marathon while ramping up with speed workouts and hitting some big PRs in shorter distances, including the half.

I've got my eye on the Wrightsville Beach Marathon in March if I decide to pull the trigger and go 26.2 miles again. Not only is it fairly close to home, making travel pretty simple, but it's at the perfect time of year when the weather is still decent. And I won't have to train for a marathon over Christmas like I would for an early February race (which was what I was looking at for my other options). But I still haven't decided if I want to run a marathon again yet or not.

The Tybee Run Fest is another possible option for February if I don't do a marathon. I'll just run 26.2 miles over the course of a few days instead of all at once. But that will be easier to train for than a full.

As for fall, I've got two half marathons on my schedule for sure: the Myrtle Beach Mini in October and Savannah Rock 'n Roll in November. Both of those races are ones I've been wanting to do for the past two years and couldn't, so this year is the year! Since we aren't planning to travel this Christmas, my schedule won't be as crazy, so I may also run Kiawah in December.

In January, I've got two more half marathons on the calendar. So many half marathons to cross off my wishlist! One of my friends from back home in PA suggested we do the Walt Disney Half together, so I'm in for that (and little B will be doing a 100 meter baby dash - he'll even get a medal!). That will be an easier run, though, since I don't plan on racing that or even running the entire way without stopping for pictures. And of course, I'll be running the Charleston Half for the 4th year in a row to close out the fall season. Whew! That's a lot. But I'm looking forward to it and it will give me even more of a base for marathon training should I decide to go full crazy in the winter instead of just half crazy.

The week in workouts: