Hello again!

Apologies for the lack of posts last week. While I love blogging, my work during the week pretty much restricts my blogging time to only weekends. This can make things a little hectic trying to squeeze in all of my runs, chores and a week’s worth of blog posts in the span of 2 days. Last weekend, I felt like I needed the time to really decompress, but I’m back now!

Rather than share 2 week’s worth of workouts (which would probably be pretty boring), I wanted to touch on some highlights and my thoughts about the Half at the Hamptons being THIS SUNDAY!

Yes, exactly.

Two weeks ago, I had my last long run/hard workout on Saturday and it did NOT go well. The workout was 3 mile warm-up followed by 3 x 2 miles at 7:32 with 2 minutes rest between sets and a 3 mile cool-down. I knew it was going to be hard, but I can honestly say I wasn’t dreading this workout. I made sure to get a good night’s sleep and I felt ready to tackle it in the morning. The only bit of trepidation I felt was in that I was visiting my family for the weekend and the roads around my hometown are hillier than my typical running routes around my apartment. I knew it was going to be a struggle running 7:32 pace with hills thrown in. Boy, was I right.

I picked the least hilly area I could find, which still included 2 short but steep-ish hills. I went into the 2-mile repeats and knew pretty much right away it was not going to be a good day. My first set was 7:39 and 7:57 but then I fell apart even more on the second and third sets. I felt like I was working hard but I was literally GASPING for air and could NOT make the pace on my watch nudge down to the low 7:30s. Mentally, I was frustrated and already beginning to have doubts about the half. It was, by far the worst workout I have had this entire training cycle.

I ended up chatting with Mary (my coach) the next day, and she reassured me that this happens and is not the end of the world. One bad workout does not undo 3 months worth of good workouts. I felt 100 times better after talking it through with her, and I don’t think this workout will negatively affect my mindset going into the race this weekend.

Now, I am officially in Taper Town! I think I simultaneously love and hate the taper. I love knowing the race is coming up and running easy miles, but I do feel like my body/mind tend to freak out a bit. I had a few minor aches and pains during some of my easy runs this week (some pain in my achilles, a pain in my hamstring). When these would pop up, I would immediately start to wonder if I’m injured, if I’ll be able to do the race, etc… But all these little aches ended up going away after a mile or two, so thankfully I think I will be in perfect condition for Sunday. 🙂

This past weekend, I had an easy 8 miles on Saturday in beautiful mid-60 degree temps which was GLORIOUS!

Nothing like wearing shorts on February 25th!

Everyone was outside on what I like to call “my” running route but I guess I can share if it means more nice weather in the future. 😉

This week I have a few more easy runs on the agenda, but nothing too crazy.

How was your week? If you’re in the Northeast, were you able to get outside and enjoy this amazing weather? 

How do you react to the taper?