ORRRC Half Training Week 6

Despite the cold temps, the trees still bloomed

Welcome to another Weekly Review linkup with Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin. Last week, I was still training for the ORRRC Half, which was Sunday. I'll post my race recap soon but for now here's a look at the week leading up to the race:

Week of April 4-10

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 3 miles, 8:22 pace + arm exercises
Wednesday: 2 miles, 8:34 pace
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 2.1 miles, 9:02 pace
Sunday: ORRRC Half Marathon, 1:58:16 (!)

Total: 20.2 miles
2016 total: 330.6

Tobias helps with dinner

Monday's weather was cold and gross, so I stayed in and made dinner while Alex went fishing after work. It was also Tobias's birthday. He's 10!

I went out for a 3 miler on Tuesday and did two things wrong: I overdressed and chose a route full of traffic. My pace looks great, but it's because I could stop and catch my breath at intersections. I'm trying to do more arm work, so I did my favorite Tracy Anderson workout. It's only 8 minutes and I swear: if you do it 2-3 times a week you will see a difference within 2 weeks. I did it a lot in the spring of 2012 and I had nice arms.

On Wednesday Alex and I went to a nearby hilly neighborhood so I could get in some last minute hill training. The temperature was 59 (probably the warmest day of the week) and I felt great running in shorts and a light t-shirt. We ran down two big hills then back up. It was only 2 miles, but it was a quality workout. I had to stop for a breath at the top of both hills, but overall I felt strong. I plan to add more hill work before my next two (hilly) halves.

Tobias helps with chores. (Before shot)

Thursday and Friday were rest days. I also took off work and did a bunch of cleaning - the majority in my craft room / office space. There's still work to do, but it felt really good to go through piles I'd been ignoring for a long time. I also went to a late lunch with a high school friend on Thursday. It was so nice catching up. On Friday night Alex and I went to dinner, then came home and watched the first episode of Better Call Saul.

I woke up Saturday with a terrible migraine. I think it was weather related as the temperature dropped significantly. I took allergy meds (and migraine pills eventually), but it was a rough morning. Honestly, I was thankful I was getting it out of my system Saturday instead of race day! I waited until it warmed up to 30 degrees and got suited up for a 2 mile shakeout run. I added pace alerts to my Garmin to keep me between 8:40 and 9:15 to see if that was something I'd want to try Sunday (it wasn't. It was way too annoying). For some reason this run was tough. I felt gross, heated up too quickly, and on top of everything had lady cramps and my ankle hurt! I felt like walking and it was only 2 miles! Obviously, I was a bit nervous going in to Sunday. I wrapped and iced my ankle after and hoped for the best...

Hey guys, did I bring enough stuff? (I don't normally do this.)

We drove to Xenia for packet pickup on Saturday afternoon. After grabbing Chipotle, we went back to our hotel in Cedarville (a great place to stay) and binge-watched HGTV. We went out again for milkshakes, then returned and watched The Day After Tomorrow as I laid out my clothes for the race. It was really nice to sit around and not have plans.

Wahoo!

Sunday was the race. I'll have a full recap in a day or two. I'm waiting to see if there are race photos. It was a cold morning and I never really warmed up during the race, but it was a well-run event. I don't know if I'll go back, but I highly recommend the ORRRC Half.

I achieved my goal of sub-2, which I'm very happy about. Of course, my overall pace was 9:01/mi and now I'm like, "Well if I would have shaved off a few more seconds I could have had a pace in the 8s...." Whatever! I plan to revise my sub-2 goal at my favorite race (Loveland Half), but that's not 'til October, so I have time to relax!

I know some people get taper madness, but not me. This was a good week and I am ready for a break from schedule-based running! I'm really looking forward to the upcoming week and running whatever I want, whenever I want! My next half is RnR Nashville, but as I'm running for fun I don't have to train too hard.

How was your week? 
Do you overpack for running trips? 
Do you have a quick (under 10 minute) non-running exercise you'd like to share?