With just about 4 weeks to go until race day, I’m getting deep into this half marathon training cycle. This week was great, extra hot but still great. Humidity literally kicked my butt this week, but I still survived and accomplished my miles which is all that matters, right? 😉 Fall should be here sometime this week and I’m just too excited to see the cooler temps roll around. It makes a world of difference in my running and it is very much welcomed, especially this close to my 5th half! I’m still holding onto the hope of a 2 hour race, but my 2nd goal is 2:10 which I think is definitely do-able. Let’s jump right into my week of workouts!
I started off the week a little bit slow taking a few days off from running after my birthday celebration last weekend. I was trying to listen to my body and definitely felt like a small break was much needed to recover my legs from the previous week of workouts. So, that’s exactly what I did. I’m super proud of myself for getting in 4 different yoga sessions this week, (Yoga with Adriene is my favorite at-home yoga!) which I’m really feeling extra thankful for to stretch out these tight hamstrings of mine. Sometimes, it can be so tough to make myself roll out my mat and get going, but by the end I’m SO beyond happy that I made the choice to do it. Just taking those 20-30 minutes of the day to focus on my breathing and slowing down helps me SO much mentally and physically. Plus, I’ll take all the streching out I can get. Usually after my yoga I try and grab my foam roller too for a good roll out which has really been helping me a ton too!
Tuesday was a really good tempo workout to get me back into the running grind. I did total 3.7 miles (including warm up/cool down)
3.2 miles of running ((in the heat and humidity.))
Total workout was 30:46 @ 9:35 pace.
Mile 1: 9:38, Mile 2: 9:41, Mile 3: 9:36.
Followed up with some post-run stretching! I usually run down to the soccer fields to switch up from the pavement and it always feels so good on my tired legs/feet.
Wednesday was all about speed work. I did a run/walk interval session for 2 miles. Sprint 30/sec Walk 30/sec.
Total workout: 22:04 then cooled down with a 2 mile run at around 10:00 pace. I had to take a few shade brakes on this run because the sun was just about frying me like an egg the entire run!
Followed this workout up with a good legs up the wall pose for about 10 minutes. Seriously, I LOVE doing this post-run. It feels amazingly good to reverse the blood flow.
Thursday was just a mile walk with Nick and the pups + yoga afterwards. It was such a pretty night to head out for a walk and I know we all needed a nice slow down to wind down the week.
Much needed spinal yoga.
For Friday’s workout, I got in a little week day long progression run of 5 miles.
Total workout: 47:38 @ 9:31 average pace.
Mile 1: 9:58 (warm up)
Mile 2: 9:42
Mile 3: 9:16
Mile 4: 9:12
Mile 5: 9:28 (cool down)
I came so close to melting down into a total puddle after this run. Heat was definitely the theme of this week if you can’t tell….
I even considered just hanging out in this random home’s sprinkler on my way home. I figured they may think I was a tiny bit crazy though if they caught me napping under their sprinkler for an hour or two so I decided to just keep walking. It sure is nice though when you can catch one that hits the street on your way home! Kind of like a pre-shower, right? 😉
Saturday was rest day for me. 10 minute foam roll session, + stretching and a yoga video!
That brings us to TODAY! Sunday Runday! I am just SO SO SO excited how today’s run went. I literally haven’t run this fast and this strong probably ever. So, I’ll just ask for a repeat of this workout every week, please and thank you!
(Started with a quick 7-minute pre-run yoga session)
Total workout: 7.60 miles.
5 mile run (with Nick!–YAY for a non-solo run!!)
3 miles @ 8:05 (YES, 8!!!)
2 miles @ 8:38 (I’m not even sure who I am anymore! ;))
Mile 1: 8:05
Mile 2: 7:58
Mile 3: 8:11
Mile 4: 8:39
Mile 5: 8:36
Seriously, I’m not sure where the old Chelsea runner went but I’ll stick with the new Chelsea any day! I’m 100% I’ve NEVER run this fast consistently in a workout….ever. So, basically Nick has now officially been recruited to run my speed workouts with me because he killed it! He is the BEST cheerleader and can push me so much farther than I EVER even come close to pushing myself in a workout. He definitely gets all the credit and I’m just so glad we were able to run together! He works so hard during the week, I just go for solo runs but this weekend he decided to join me and I was more than happy to have him come along! But, now this will have to become a weekly date, that’s for sure! I realized so much today on this run about how I need to get better with really pushing hard in my workouts. (Mentally and physically) I can tend to just take my comfortable pace for almost every run and avoid speed/hills like the plague. But, that’s not going to get me anywhere fast (literally!) so I’m excited to finally really zone in on what’s become one of my habits-turned-limitations! It’s like I knew it all along that I had it in me, but it took some extra help and motivation to really pull it out of me. I was so excited to FEEL what it feels like to push hard for longer and I couldn’t have been happier with the end result especially because it was totally unexpected. It was most definitely hard, don’t get me wrong– and I was feeling it come mile 3, but overall it really did feel amazing to push the limit and see what I’m really capable of! YAY for good runs that push you and teach you all at the same time!!
Here are our paces from the workout. Fingers crossed this is only the beginning of my speedy run sessions! 🙂
That’s a wrap on this week’s workouts! Lots of miles and lots of sweat came and went and that makes me one happy runner girl! I’m headed to the store tonight to grab some epsom salt to recover from today’s run and this entire week of runs! Sunday self-care is a non-negotiable for me, especially today!
I hope your week was just as awesome, and I hope the week ahead is even better!
Question for YOU:
What was your favorite workout you got in this week?
What’s your favorite self-care routine?
What’s your favorite at-home workout program?
