Paradise Coast (Naples) Half Training Week 12

Snow early in the week... but only a dusting.

Welcome to another Weekly Review linkup with Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin. My training cycle focuses on the Paradise Coast Half Marathon on Feburary 14. You can read about the race here. 

Week of Jan 18-24 
Monday: 4.2 miles, 8:32 pace
Tuesday: 1 mile, 8:12
Wednesday: 5 miles, 9:02 pace
Thursday: 6 miles, 8:58 pace
Friday: 3 miles, 9:12 pace
Saturday: 11 miles, 10:44 pace
Sunday: 1 mile, 8:19

Weekly total: 31.3 miles
This cycle: 280.8 miles
Streak day: 86

After two crappy weeks of skipped mid-week 6 milers, I was back to top form. I tried to think of my runs one day at a time instead of letting the weekly milage pile up in my head. During the crappy weeks I found myself thinking, "I need 28 miles by the end of the week," instead of "I have 5 miles today." Somehow the change in thinking seemed to kick start my motivation and get me back to where I needed to be.

We made a really great casserole on Monday

I took a half day Monday and went on my run around 2:30 to catch the "warmest" part of the day. It was ridiculously cold (12° with a feels like of -3°), so I planned on running one streak mile and move my runs later in the week. After I ran a mile and warmed up I figured I might as well get in 3 more since I had free time. Halfway through the 3 miler my phone died from the cold. Yikes.

Tuesday was a one mile day because I went to see a free movie with my friend. She had passes for Dirty Grandpa. I would not recommend this movie to y'all because you seem like sweet ladies. It was really, really raunchy and offensive... but Zac Efron was very pretty. ;)

Wednesday's run was snowy, slushy, and very slippery. I avoided sidewalks (most of them weren't cleared) and stuck to the streets of my neighborhood. I have a pretty small neighborhood, so I had to run many loops and I think some of my neighbors thought I was crazy. The snow made it pretty fun, though it was tough to keep myself upright. Oh, and my phone died again.

The track is my treadmill this winter

My run started around sunset on Thursday and continued past dark. I had the place mostly to myself, which is great because last time I did speed work there was a really chatty guy and I did not feel like talking and running. My speed plan called for 1 mile warm up, 4x800 at interval pace (7:56 for me), 1 mile cool down. I modified the warm up and cool downs to 2 miles so I'd get my 6 miles. My 800s were pretty fast (low 8s), but I didn't consistently hit my goal pace because of the snow. One side of the track was completely clear, but the 200m closest to the stands was still covered in snow and slick. My phone stayed alive because I put it inside a glove and I was able to finish Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me? audiobook.

Buffs on buffs on Friday morning

I ran before work on Friday (which seems to be the only day of the week I consistently run before work). I decided to take it slower since my legs were tired. Plus, I read the pace guidelines for a sub-2 half and realized I'm running too fast during some of my weekly workouts, so I was really trying to be good.

Speaking of being good, I knew I needed to nail my long run pace on Saturday's 11 miler. My target pace is 10:50. I joined my pace group (the 10:45s) for the first 3.5 miles. The fulls had 7 miles on their plan so I originally intended to run 7 with them, then get back out for 4. I kept dreading the remaining 4 because I knew I'd have to retrace our steps (because we were at one end of the trail). Luckily, my friend Andrea decided she wouldn't mind getting in 11, so we kept on when the fulls hit their turn around. We took a nutrition stop at 5.75 and turned around. The last few miles were tough for Andrea (she'd only run 8 miles during her training cycle so far) and we took some stops, but our pace didn't really waver. She said she felt bad for holding me up, but honestly she didn't. I felt really strong and she was keeping me on pace. I was able to talk a lot more than normal and my spirits were high. It got a lot colder while we were running, so I'm glad I layered appropriately. We had to run up a big hill at the end, but we felt like rockstars when it was over. It was so nice to have someone with me!

Antrim Lake was a bit frozen on Saturday, but no blizzard or weekend snow for Columbus

On Sunday Alex and I drove to Chicago and did some sightseeing. We haven't been to the bean in a billion years, so it was nice to see what's changed. We found a great Chinese restaurant for dinner, headed over to Trader Joe's for some snacks and wine, then back to our hotel to chill. Because it was a jam-packed day, I ended up with one treadmill mile to keep my streak alive.

Here we are!

Overall, it was a pretty awesome training week. I didn't have any knee pain and I nailed my workouts even when I felt tired. I'm hoping this week goes just as well since it's my LAST week before taper. I cannot believe my race is just under three weeks away!!

I cannot run very fast on a treadmill. Am I alone? (I feel like I'm going to fall off.)
How was your weather?