Week 14: Anniversary Week + Indy Women's Half

A view at The Wilds

Happy Sunday! Welcome to another weekly review linkup with Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin. Read more about my fall goal race here, plus I ran a half this week! (more below)

Week of September 12–September 18

Monday: 3 mile fun run
Tuesday: 2.1 miles
Wednesday: rest, 3.5 miles of walking at The Wilds
Thursday: 3.1 miles
Friday: rest
Saturday: Indy Women's Half Marathon (recap) + lots of walking
Sunday: 4 miles

Total (Running) Miles: 25.5 miles
2016 Miles: 722 miles

Alex and me; popcorn (w/M&Ms) and beer after; in my new vest!

This week was a whirlwind and I barely remember any of it. It started with a Monday night fun run with Fleet Feet Columbus. We started at a local theater (recently revamped) then through a nearby neighborhood with four checkpoints to stop and try on shoes and talk to company reps (Mizuno, Hoka, New Balance, and Brooks). I tried on Hoka Cliftons. I did not like them at first, but about 2 miles later they felt like clouds and I would love to give them another try! After the run we got a free beer then FF gave away prizes for social media posts. Alex and I both won reflective vests from Mizuno! We need to go to another run and NOT win prizes. I feel like we're stealing all their goodies since I won a ton in March.

View from the yurt overlook; a few animals from Wednesday

I worked from home Tuesday morning and did a quick (and hot) 2 mile run before Alex scooped me up for a surprise anniversary trip. My only instruction was to pack an overnight bag. I was intrigued and had no idea what to expect, so imagine my surprise when we arrived at The Wilds (a wildlife conservation center in Ohio with endangered species). We stayed in a yurt, which included dinner, breakfast, and on Wednesday we had our open air safari. We saw so many animals and had a fantastic tour guide and great weather! I would highly recommend checking out the park. On our way home we stopped at our favorite restaurant, then for drinks at our favorite brewery. A lovely anniversary!

I ran before work on Thursday and it was pretty uneventful. I still wasn't sure if I was going to run the half Saturday or cut back to the 5k and gun for a PR, so I treated this week as taper just in case.

Indy from our hotel rooftop pool; Oktoberfest beer

For some reason we didn't take Friday off work (mistake), so we had to hurry to Indy before the expo finished at 8pm. We made it and coincidentally downtown Indy's Oktoberfest was in full swing, so we stopped by for a beer. I tried to get to bed before 11, but didn't end up falling asleep until 12:30 or 1. I was super nervous and deep down I think I knew it wouldn't be canceled and that I'd have to run 13 miles!

At the Fish fest

Saturday was the Indy Women's Half. You can read my recap here. Despite a constant downpour, I had a ton of fun and ran one of my fastest half marathons (without intending to!). After the race we took advantage of the lovely hotel breakfast buffet, went to a local brewery, and then drove to Urbana, Ohio for the Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival. It was kind of hilarious. We didn't stay too long: just long enough for Alex to buy 2 pounds of prawns.

My Sunday companions

I sat around Sunday and did boring house stuff. Around 6pm Alex, Tobias, and I headed to a nearby path. Alex and Tobias went looking for paw paws and I intended to run 2-3 miles. My legs were heavy and it was very humid, but I felt really great. I ended up running 4 miles and probably would have kept going if the guys weren't waiting on me.

All-in-all a great week! I'm refreshed and feeling really excited about running again. I think I did the right thing scaling back my milage in July and August. The only downside this week: I did not continue to push my weekly elevation gain and only got 95ft total. This week I'll make it a priority to get back to running hills!

Have you ever been on a "safari" (domestic or African)? 
Does you local running store put on fun runs? 
Have you ever tried Hokas?
Anything new with you?