Another week down another training recap coming at ya! First, let’s do the catch up thing. Here’s what you missed if you were being a slacker this weekend.

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Week 5…Like many of you said, the lack of motivation from last week did not last long! Week 5 kicked some ass. Definitely proud of my workouts this week especially since I’ve been traveling since Thursday.

Previous training recaps:

Week 5’s plan:

Philadelphia Half Marathon Training: Week 5

Reality:

Philadelphia Half Marathon Training: Week 5

Monday:

I knew this run had trouble written all over it from the beginning. Fall decided to take a timeout and summer came right back overnight it seemed. I had to do this run smack in the middle of the day during lunch because I had conference calls stretching past 5pm. It was 85 degrees when I set out. I tried to prep as best I could by chugging water all morning and filling up the camelbak with a gatorade/water mix but nothing really helped. Every single mile was over 9:00 minutes and I ended up averaging a 9:24 pace which is really slow for me. Surprisingly, I wasn’t too upset about this, I knew from the get go it would be a hot, slow run and I tried to tell myself to just take it easy and get the miles in, no need to try and be superwoman about it in those temps. Granted, this is still how I felt in the end physically.

9 mile run

Hot, sweaty, tired and drained. Emotionally, I was fine with it though. There’s no way it’s going to be 85 degrees in Philly come Nov. 20 so I think I’ll be alright.

Tuesday:

If Monday was the worst workout of the week, Tuesday was without a doubt the best. The weather was amazing (75 and crystal clear skies) and I knew Wednesday was forecasting rain so I switched my days and ended up going for a 20 mile bike ride (a bike PDR) with views like this the entire way.

bike trail

Gorgeous. I’ve honestly never felt so alive as I did on this ride. Just a great, great workout.

Wednesday:

Finally got in the NROLFW session I missed last week and did a lot of stretching. After 9 miles on Monday and 20 miles on the bike on Tuesday, my legs were a bit tight.

Thursday:

Since I was out the door of my house at 7:30am and not in the hotel in Sacramento until 5pm west coast time, I decided to make this my rest day instead of Friday. Also, I must’ve pulled or strained a muscle the previous day lifting because the entire right side of my back felt like I had been beaten up. I’ve never felt soreness like that before. Ouch! As you can imagine, 7 hours on the plane didn’t quite help.

Friday:

Rest day turned speed work day. I actually had a great 5 miles of intervals on the treadmill. Even with the broken TV screen. I ended up doing a .75 mile warm up and cool down and 7 x 400’s @ 8:00 pace with 400m recovery @ 10:00 pace. It’s funny how hard 8:00 min/miles feel on a treadmill compared to outdoor running. I always think treadmills seem harder than outside. I know not everyone feels that way but I can run 7:30’s outside no problem for speed work and on a treadmill that feels like absolute death.

Saturday:

I took advantage of the bay path near my hotel and walked for an hour outside. Light cross training, but gorgeous views.

San Francisco bay trail

I headed to the hotel gym later in the day for a NROLFW session. Wrapped up stage 3A, just have one more session of 3B this week before an update!

Sunday:

This shall go down in history as the day I actually got my ass out of bed for a morning workout. Booyah! 4 miles at 7:30 in the morning. I think it helps that my body really felt like it was 10:30 because of the time change and I had already been awake for 2 hours at this point. Sunday runs are supposed to be “pace” runs and I’ve been averaging around an 8:15 pace outside during them in previous weeks. On the treadmill though, it’s just tough for me to run that pace so I kept this one a bit slower and varied my speed between 6.8-7.0 over the course of 4 miles.

Overall, I’m really happy that I got all my workouts in this week even while on the road. Hopefully, I can keep that up this week since I don’t get home until Wednesday night. I planned for this trip though when creating the training so today’s “long run” is only 5 miles. Definitely doable whereas 10 would’ve been nearly impossible given the conference schedule. Yay for fall back weeks.

Total Weekly Round-up:

  • Run: 18 miles
  • Bike: 20 miles
  • Strength training sessions: 2

No Ginger videos this week (I miss my puppy) but I leave you with our amazing dessert last night instead.

cupcakes

We got one of each (plus an unpictured lemon buttermilk cupcake) and split them in half. I couldn’t eat 2 whole cupcakes worth after the dinner we had but I had bites of each. Apple crumb was out of this world! The lemon one was a close second. Teacake Bake Shop in Burlingame, CA, definitely check it out if you’re ever in the area.

What was your best workout of the week?

What’s your favorite kind of cupcake?

Founder and Writer at Running to the Kitchen | About

Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.

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13 Comments

  1. Is this race the week before Thanksgiving? I’ll be all moved, I’ll have to come cheer you on! And just maybe I’ll bake you something delish!

    1. Yes! Yay for a cheerleader :) Ulys still isn’t sure he’s coming so I can use the extra support ;)

  2. I totally get what you mean about a pace on the treadmill. I ran on one this week after a year of running outside and it was hard to keep up my 8:35 for 4 miles! I don’t understand why it’s so much harder?

  3. Go you! It’s really hard to pull yourself out of bed on a Sunday for a workout…I don’t think I’ve done that in months!!

  4. I could eat two whole cupcakes right now! Those look amazing.

    Way to have a rocking workout week!

    My best workout was definitely the marathon…also the worst aftermath ever. Go figure.

  5. Way to do your long run in the heat. I know those are not easy. My favorite workout this week was a 42 mile bike ride yesterday by the water. My favorite kind of cupcake is carrot with cream cheese frosting. German chocolate is a close second.

  6. Yeah, it was definitely super hot on Monday. Way to push through it though, girl ! I am so excited for your half!!