Milwaukee Marathon Half Marathon Training: Week 7 Recap

Week 7 is in the books.  It was again all over the place since I had a mid-week 5K race but by the end of it, I recovered nicely and finished all of the workouts.  I am looking forward to a "normal" week of no races! I finally feel like I am not on the brink of falling asleep.

Monday, July 24
Plan says: 1.5 mile warm up, 3 x 1 mi at 5k/10k pace with 800 m recovery in between, 1.5 mile cool down

What I do:  I was not going to do another speed workout the day after a 10K race so I opted for 6 miles easy.  This felt good.  I was able to get out of bed early, the air was cool.  I was slower than usual, which I was happy about.

6.05 miles, 51:31 (8:31 avg pace)

Tuesday, July 25
Plan says: 0 miles

What I do:  Wanted to do my tempo run today since I was using the 5K as a "replacement" for mile repeats.  I did NOT get out of bed early to do this because I went to bed 2 hours later than usual (and having consumed more wine than usual, #bookclub ).  I ended up doing this late afternoon, when it was hot out, but not nearly as hot as it had been.  I had attended a work conference all day and had different food than usual for lunch, including quinoa.  Ever since doing Whole30 last year, quinoa was a food that always provoked a reaction:  major stomach cramps, sweats, total gross.  Two of the salads that I ate huge portions of at the conference were quinoa-based.  I knew this was taking a chance, but I was hungry.

Needless to say, I left for my warm up and wasn't feeling so great.  Thought it would just take a bit to get going.  Ran 1.5 miles and then had to kick it into gear.  I opted to start out a little slower than tempo pace and was still not feeling that great.  I circled back to my house since I had a water bottle on my mailbox.  I started chugging the water bottle when stuff started coming back up in the opposite direction.  Ew.  I thought I would be ok, so I continued on.  Yep.  It wasn't ok.  I abandoned the tempo run 2.6 miles (and plenty of stops) in.  I walked home from that point feeling like I was going to die, the sweat just running off me.

1.5 mile warm up, 12:04 (8:03 avg pace)
2.5 mile tempo, 16:44 (6:47 avg pace)

3.97 miles total

Wednesday, July 26
Plan says: 1.5 mile warm up, 4 miles at half-marathon pace (6:44), 1.5 mile cool down

What I do:  Took my off day here.  Day before the race.  Felt amazing to do nothing.

Thursday, July 20
Plan says: 6 miles easy

What I do: Race day! 5K.  Race recap here.

1.69 mile warm up, 12:29 (7:24 avg pace)
3.13 race, 19:33 (6:15 avg pace)
1.65 mile cool down, 14:19 (8:40 avg pace)

Friday, July 21
Plan says: 5 miles easy

What I do:  OOH Thursday night was a rough one.  I was pretty amped up when I finally got home after the race and went to bed around 10pm but could not fall asleep.  This turned into one of those nights where every noise made me think someone was in our house.  Then I had a bout of digestive distress similar to my entire day Thursday.  When I finally felt myself drifting off, my daughter came in because of a bad dream.  This happened again a few hours later.  I got back to my bed at 4 AM.  On the plus side, because I was already awake, it wasn't too hard to get out of bed and get out the door!

This was a beautiful run.  I intentionally chose to run laps around the pond so I would not be able to go fast and just sort of zone out with a podcast.  My right hip was REALLY bothering me though.

6.1 miles, 52:39 (8:38 avg pace)

Saturday, July 22
Plan says: 10 miles at long run pace (7:30-9:00)

What I do:  I struggle with waking up early on the weekends because I so love laying in bed with my husband and kids in the morning.  During the week, our mornings are GO GO GO so it is nice to veg out with them on the weekend.

I am then running during my son's afternoon nap, which is usually the warmest part of the day.  I mostly have been successful at convincing myself that this will make me a stronger runner.   Mostly.

I headed out in the hot sun to get this done.  I really wanted to be around 8:00 for the first half this, to ensure that it would not go off the rails and I was successful in this endeavor.  I ended up getting a Garmin tan because I did not put sunblock on my arms which was a dumb move.  My hip was still sore but not feeling as rough as it was on Friday.

10 miles, 1:16:40 (7:53 avg pace)

Sunday, July 23
Plan says: 6 miles easy

What I do:  My family went on a long (6 miles - long for a 6 + 3 year old!) bike ride mid-day and I ran afterwards.  I again went on the pond to get 5 miles in (flip flopping my Friday and Sunday runs).  I was hot and tired, but got it done which was my only goal.

5 miles, 39:26 (7:40 avg pace)

Plan Miles: 42
Total Weekly Miles: 37.6