I had this song in my head all weekend (possibly the best 80s hair ever.)

It’s the last week before the Philly half and after my long run on Saturday, it somehow popped into my head and has stayed there since. We actually used to listen to this song warming up for soccer games in high school on my club team so unfortunately, I can sing every single word which makes it a little harder to get out of your head.

Hope you all had a great weekend. I can actually say this is a Monday I’m looking forward to because it’s the last one standing between me and the race!

Although there is still a week left before the half, week 9 was really my last “real” week of training. I’m not planning on much besides a slow, shake out run or two this week and plenty of rest and stretching.

That being said, week 9 looked absolutely nothing like the plan. I’m ok with it though. I got my mileage in, I just needed to do some shuffling to accommodate that pesky knee pain from late last week.

Previous recaps:

Here was the original plan:

Philadelphia half marathon training week 9 plan

Here’s what I actually did:

Philadelphia half marathon training week 9 plan

Monday:

I was being overly careful with my knee. It still didn’t feel right so I opted for another rest day. Bought a foam roller and stretched and rolled the heck out of my IT band. It worked!

Tuesday:

Feeling almost 100% better, I went for a run thinking that I would stop at the first sign of pain but luckily didn’t experience any! 5 miles, negative splits, 8:41 pace.

Wednesday:

Not sure how much longer it’s going to be warm enough to bike so I went for quick 11.5 mile bike ride at a fast pace.

Thursday:

Knowing I was going to be running 12 miles on Saturday which was much closer to the race than I had planned originally, I scaled this speed session down a bit from 10 repeats to 6. Still a good workout though covering 4 miles total.

Friday:

Rest

Saturday:

You might’ve already seen the result. I was so happy to get a solid, pain free long run in before the race I couldn’t wait to post about it. Super happy with my splits on it too, finishing strong and feeling like I could’ve even pushed myself a bit more.

12 mile run on Garmin

  • Mile 1: 8:37 (too fast)
  • Mile 2: 8:56 (too slow)
  • Mile 3: 8:49 (jusssst right)
  • Mile 4: 8:49
  • Mile 5: 8:47
  • Mile 6: 8:43
  • Mile 7: 8:55 (turn around & greeted with the head wind from hell)
  • Mile 8: 8:56
  • Mile 9: 8:57
  • Mile 10: 8:43 (screw the wind, I’m finishing strong)
  • Mile 11: 8:39
  • Mile 12: 8:29

Average pace: 8:47 (which would be a 1:55 half )

Sunday:

Rest! After 12 miles on Saturday and then having to wear heels for a charity event  that night, my legs were a little beat up.

Total Weekly Round-up:

  • Run: 21
  • Bike: 11.5
  • Strength: 0

Strength training may have fallen by the wayside this week (although I did do pushups almost every day) but I’m ok with that. I’m just happy to have finished out my training on a high note running-wise and feel completely ready for Philly. Kari is now running Philly too (she’s taking someone’s bib who can’t run) so we’re headed down together on Saturday and her plan is to pace me for the first half and then continue on to run the full. I have big plans to beat my half PR and she wants to beat her full PR from 3 weeks ago. Kari is probably just a bit faster than me at this distance so it will be good to be pushed a little and see what I’m capable of. I might be cursing her out loud by mile 8 or so, but we’ve already gone over that no offense should be taken.

Do you run the day before a race or completely rest up? I’ve done both with equal success so I’m not sure what I’m going to do this time yet.

What’s your go-to race day breakfast? I’ll be bringing my pb packets with me for a bagel/pb/banana combo. It never lets me down!

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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18 Comments

  1. Good Luck! Just found your blog and can relate on wayyy too many levels! I am marathon training right now, dealing with IT band issues, a whole-food eater, and insane foodie! Looking forward to more posts :)

  2. Good luck to you on Sunday! I’m running the half too, goal time ~2:07. That song is perfect for so many occasions… For example, my husband and I pulled this up for my brother-in-law in the limo on the way to his wedding this summer :) I take the day before a race off from running. I’ve had some really good long runs with an unplanned rest day the day before… I do go for a long walk though. Race day breakfast is PB on 1 slice of wheat toast (+ sometimes jelly) and a banana.